“We are on our own”: beyond vaccination, strikers in Guadeloupe denounce their con – Franceinfo

The unlimited general strike continues in Guadeloupe: for the fifth consecutive day, blockades are planned on the roads of the Overseas Department, to protest against the vaccination obligation of caregivers and the health pass. Rows of tires, an old washing machine, tree trunks or branches are sometimes found piled up on a road, like that of Petit Havre, near Le Gosier. Here, motorists found themselves trapped for a few hours, facing this makeshift roadblock.

“I am an educator and I take care of disabled children. I am not telling you the hassle!”, plague Denis, who tries to go to work behind the wheel of his gray car. He sees red: “I am against the vaccine but I am also against the fact that we are blocking the population”, he enraged in front of the demonstrators, who arrived in the early morning to put everything in place.

“I too am against the health pass. I am for them! Let them go and block the prefecture, I will go with them without any problem. But block us, us, on the roads …”

Denis, educator specializing in Guadeloupe

to franceinfo

Valérie has been stuck in her car since 6 a.m. Next to her, in the passenger seat, a large water pack is placed. A precaution for those who remember the general strike of 2009. “The beginnings of this strike are very similar to those we knew at the time”, she slips. That year, endless blockades paralyzed Guadeloupe for 44 days. Valérie is afraid of reliving the same thing.

Holding this indefinite strike as long as possible is precisely what the demonstrators want. “The fight we are leading is for all of Guadeloupe”, justifies François, one of them. Between the rows of tires, they say they are determined and repeat again and again their rejection of the vaccination. “I tell all Guadeloupeans not to take the vaccine. It’s poison!”

But mobilization is not just about refusing vaccination. It is in reality a whole set of societal and economic issues that are shaking Guadeloupe. “In this neighborhood, there has been no electricity or public lighting for six months. For years, there have been water cuts for sometimes a week. There is also the problem of garbage collection: people live in dirt “, denounces Axel, a resident of the neighborhood.

So many daily problems that add up to major economic difficulties. “We live in poverty. IThere are 35% unemployed here, a lot of people on the RSA and a lot of material misery. “ He affirms that in parallel, “property tax increased by 1281%”. And summarizes: “It is unlivable! And opposite, the state does not exist. We are left to ourselves.”

When the police arrive with machines to free the access, a few hours after the start of the blockage, François slips, a handsome player: “That’s the game !” If the demonstrators let it go without clashes, it is because they will come back in a few hours to once again block the road axis. “As long as Mr. Macron does not understand!, forecasts François. Even the French in metropolitan France are fed up with him! We’re going to give it a voodoo shot “, he promises.