Violence in Guadeloupe: the State imposes a curfew in the face of riots against the health pass
Le Parisien, November 20, 2021 (excerpts)
On Friday, the prefect of Guadeloupe Alexandre Rochatte announced the introduction of a curfew between 6 p.m. and 5 a.m. with immediate effect, up until Tuesday, November 23, “given the social movements underway in the region and acts of vandalism” having as a starting point the mobilization against the health pass and the mandatory vaccination of carers against Covid-19.
Roads and accesses to the CHU blocked, buildings and vehicles set on fire, schools closed… The anti-pass and anti-vax discontent that has been going on for five days, led by a collective of union and citizen organizations, is now coupled with violence committed by rioters. After a particularly violent night from Thursday to Friday, schools remained closed on Friday and, due to numerous roadblocks, activity is slowing down.
Another “very agitated” night
On Friday evening, new fires were lit on barricades in Colin and Montebello, in Petit-Bourg (commune of Basse-Terre) according to Routes de Guadeloupe, after a new day of tensions. The night was “very agitated”, reported a police source to AFP, reporting “live fire against a police vehicle” in Gosier and “against mobile gendarmes” in Pointe-à-Pitre. In total, the police deplore, according to the same source, “the use of firearms on the forces of order in 4 different sectors”. “A man received a stone in the face and was slightly injured, according to the same source. Several vehicles were damaged.
Colin (Guadeloupe), November 20: one of the many ATMs removed and emptied during the night
A hundred police officers and 80 gendarmes were on the ground last night on the island. The police were faced with an attempted break-in at the university residence in Pointe-à-Pitre, as well as “about twenty lootings or attempted lootings” in businesses in Pointe-à-Pitre and Gosier: a jewelry store, PMU, banks, shopping centre…
During the night in Saint-François, “gendarmes leaving the brigade were threatened by flaming projectiles”, without any injuries. The fire department intervened for fires in Petit-Bourg in two telephone shops, which were also looted. In the same area, “a gun shop was broken into” according to a source within the gendarmerie.
In the south of Basse-Terre, according to another source, the situation has been calmer on the roads despite some blockades: “People, especially shopkeepers, are beginning to organize and remove blockades, local residents have helped the gendarmes.”
The blockades resumed this Saturday morning, with the installation of new barricades, particularly on the main roads of the territory.
November 20. The Destrellan/Baie-Mahault expressway
Social conflict: a groggy awakening, after a first night of curfew, in Guadeloupe
Guadeloupela1ere, November 20, 2021 (excerpts)
This Saturday morning, the roads are still blocked by old tyres, tree trunks, burnt out cars and various materials. Traffic is impossible on the RN2, the RN 1 in Basse-Terre, and the RN4, the RN 5 in the Grands Fonds, in Abymes in Morne-à-l’eau. The roadblocks cleared by the forces of order were reconstituted a few minutes later.
In the agglomeration of Point, jewelry stores in the heart of the city were attacked with a grinder, early in the night. The police intervened. Alarm sirens sounded throughout the night.
In addition, the Super U supermarket on Légitimus Boulevard was vandalized and looted. The same happened to the BRED bank branch, next door.
Pointe-à-Pitre, November 20. The Super U supermarket after looting
Other businesses on this axis have been damaged, including a “lottery point”.
The Chemin Neuf area is impassable, due to the numerous pieces of garbage collected there by the demonstrators.
The premises of the Customs, in the Marina, were also visited.
An estate agency opened and then looted
The Departmental Fire and Rescue Service (SDIS) reports as “the most striking events of the night”, the violent fires that broke out at around 2:30 am in the Colin commercial zone in Petit-Bourg: the establishments of the two telephone operators Orange and Digicel were targeted. It took the intervention of 27 firefighters to put an end to these disasters.
On the South Grande-Terre side, in Sainte-Anne, the nautical base was looted. The demonstrators found enough material for their blockades. They have seized a catamaran, which is on the boulevard Ibéné.
Several stores in the Artisanal Village were damaged, including one that the criminals managed to open, to get inside.
Another “very agitated” night
