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Protesters looted shops and set up burning barricades overnight on France’s Caribbean island of Martinique, France Info reported on Thursday, as demonstrations against Covid-19 protocols intensified following similar unrest in nearby Guadeloupe.
France Info published a video of protesters targeting a shopping centre and running away with goods, as well as videos of demonstrators setting up burning barricades on roads.
France’s Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe have been hit by unrest over the last week due to anger over Covid-19 protocol measures, such as moves to ramp up vaccinations on the islands.
Covid-19 measures spark ‘social rebellion’ in French Caribbean
Security forces and firefighters have reported coming under fire in Martinique where a general strike got under way on Monday, a week after a similar shutdown began in Guadeloupe. There have been no reports of casualties.
Petrol bombs were meanwhile hurled at police in Basse-Terre, the main city in Guadeloupe where some 90 people have been arrested in recent days, prosecutors said.
Barricades made of taxis or tyres have now also been set up on main highways in Martinique and they remain in place in Guadeloupe where a meeting Monday chaired by Prime Minister Jean Castex failed to dampen anger.
The Caribbean islands, known as the Antilles, are struggling with a new wave of coronavirus infections that is causing lockdowns and flight cancellations and overwhelming hospitals, just as tourism was beginning to show signs of recovery.
Source : france24
