restless start to the week, demonstration in Montpellier and blockages

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The commando operation of Tuesday, November 12, 2024 in the evening to block access to the wine and spirits merchant Trilles, in Maureilhanaccused of foreign importation, was only the hors d'oeuvre: the activists of the Rural coordination of Hérault -CR 34- will move on to muscular actions, but always peaceful, even if their slogan « Tic Tac Boom! » will still be traced on site. An unlimited main course.

This time, the angry farmers and winegrowers of CR 34, a hundred or more, will leave the department and could completely block road traffic on the Franco-Spanish border, between Le Boulou and the Col du Perthus, in THE Pyrenees-Orientalesas well as investing in food group sites. And it would be from this Tuesday, November 19, 2024: “We are preparing everything down to the smallest detail”, confirms this Friday, November 16 to Metropolitan, Arnaud Poitrine, winegrower in Cabrières and spokesperson for CR 34.

He regrets that, “after operations carried out in recent weeks with the covering of fixed radars, piles of stocks of large tires in front of banks, MSAs, public finance departments, we had submitted an ultimatum to the public authorities. We were not heard and we never obtained any progress, apart from meetings with the prefect and deputies from Hérault, but no concrete measures were promised, despite our constant warnings of despair agricultural and wine-growing in our countryside”.

Freight traffic blocked

According to Arnaud Poitrinethe activists of Rural Coordination 34, very angry, are going to do it again, but with a notch above: “all freight traffic will be blocked for an indefinite period at the borders and logistics bases of large-scale distribution which strangles, by asking us to continue to reduce prices to increase their margins, while our production costs are constantly increasing. This is unacceptable in the current context. We don't have to be the adjustment variable. It is time for our leaders to realize the situation and the anger that is growing more and more; a strong gesture such as the exemption from the Tnfb could calm everything down.”

And the spokesperson for CR 34 denounced: “When several billions are spent on a swimming event in the Seine, we really question the priorities of our leaders. Do we still want peasants in France? “. For the actions planned for Tuesday in the Pyrénées-Orientales, CR 34 should receive reinforcement from other activists coming from Occitanie.

Demonstration Monday in Montpellier

Anger is also brewing at FDSEA and among the Young Farmers -JA- from Hérault who are uniting to make their voices heard, “in the face of a situation that has become untenable”. Thus, this Monday, November 18, 2024, at Montpelliera demonstration is unorganized to challenge the public authorities “on the urgency of taking concrete measures”.

One of the managers sums up this situation: “Let's not import food that we don't want. Our farmers are facing challenges on an unprecedented scale. The weight of crushing costs, the devastating effect of unfair competition, the impact of massive imports and on top of recurring climatic hazards, the diseases which affect our livestock (MHE, FCO.) and directly threaten the food sovereignty of our country. While the promises made to farmers remain insufficient, our mobilization is intended to be a new cry of alarm to recall the importance of preserving our local agriculture. The situation is alarming: economic pressure and falling income are pushing many farmers to the brink of bankruptcy, endangering the future of our countryside and national food security.”

Why mobilize?

“We must restore a decent income to farmers. We must reduce the costs weighing on farms to guarantee the sustainability of the sector. We must fight against unfair competition and imports that do not respect our production standards. We must preserve food sovereignty and the strategic role of farmers in the local economy,” explains one of the Young Farmers.

Prefecture, Comedy and Antigone

The JA and the FDSEA warn: “this mobilization in Montpellier this Monday is only the beginning of a series of actions to move the lines. Farmers and wine growers are calling for national awareness to support local producers and guarantee a viable future for French agriculture.”

The demonstrators will meet this Monday, November 18 at 11 a.m. in front of the Hérault prefecture, in l'Écusson, in Montpellier, then will march to the Esplanade de l'Europe, in Antigone, via the Place de la Comédie. Make your arrangements, as tram traffic will be disrupted on lines 1,3 and 4.

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