Uprising in Martinique; France sends Special Troops
Featured image: Demonstration of thousands on Saturday in Martinique; Source: AP News
In the French Caribbean colony Martinique, there have been several days of violent mass protests against French imperialism, started with demonstrations against the extreme poverty of the people. The situation has aggravated and, after six injured policemen by gunshots and the fierce resistance of thousands of protesting people, not accepting the ban on demonstrations, French imperialism has deployed a group of special anti-riot police, known as the Companies for Republican Security, to Martinique, a move that has sparked controversy due to the unit’s history of being banned for 65 years following bloody protests in 1959, where they murdered at least ten people in Martinique. Before the deployment, the French government had imposed restrictions on protests in several municipalities, including Fort-de-France.
In the night from Tuesday to Wednesday past week, a McDonald’s in the Dillon neighborhood was set on fire, and barricades were ignited. Around fifty activists invaded a Carrefour hypermarket, erected a barricade in the parking lot, and attempted to set it ablaze. One man was injured while fleeing on a scooter during a police dispersal and was subsequently arrested.
Two nights of revolts erupted following the arrest of Hervé Pinto, an anti-colonial activist and president of Kollective Jistiss Matinik. The unrest began after Pinto was detained for violating a court order that prohibited him from approaching a neighborhood in Trois-Ilets, where he claims to have been wrongfully deprived of land. Demonstrators in Fort-de-France demanded his release, leading to violent protests that included the setting of fires, the establishment of barricades, and attacks on law enforcement with petrol bombs and even gunfire.
A curfew has been imposed from 9 pm to 5 am in certain neighborhoods of Fort-de-France and the nearby town of Lamentin from September 18 to September 23. During the night from Friday to Saturday, two individuals fired shots at the Fort-de-France police station but caused no injuries. The Grand Port Maritime de Martinique, which handles 98% of the island’s goods, is also a target of the protests.
While struggling with the deep political crisis in the interior, French imperialism has been in a constant state of alert for several months in its oversea colonies. In Kanaky, the ongoing rebellion of the masses resulted in the murder of two more men by the French repressive forces last week. Facing the greatest uprising for more than the past 40 years, French imperialism sent more than 3,000 soldiers, gendarmes and police to the pacific archipelago in May and June, and at the same time, hundreds of French settler families decided to go home. Today is the 171st anniversary of the occupation of Kanaky by French imperialism, and huge protests have been announced. Although Kanaky and Martinique are in two different oceans, they both show in a quite similar way, how the oppressed people make French imperialism tremble and losing authority in its own colonies.
