Mobilizations throughout Guyana in support of isolated communities

The mobilization is taking place simultaneously in several municipalities in Guyana, this Sunday, November 17, to denounce the isolation of the interior territories, further accentuated by the drought of recent weeks.

In Cayenne, a march brought together several hundred people. Just before 6 p.m., the procession left the fire station to reach Place des Palmistes. The march will be followed by a meeting in the evening.

Elsewhere in Guyana, other gatherings are taking place. In Saint-Laurent du Maroni, a few residents gathered at the La Charbonnière multipurpose room.

In Maripasoula, the march has been canceled, but a public meeting is also being held.

This mobilization is organized in solidarity with isolated communities facing drought and transport difficulties.

Associations, unions and elected officials are at the origin of the movement. Everyone is calling for concrete measures to open up isolated territories. According to them, the current drought makes the “untenable situation”. They believe that in normal times, these municipalities already lack transport and infrastructure, but with the rivers becoming impassable, it is even worse.

In Cayenne, in the procession, demonstrators assure that solutions exist : “more roads, more air rotations and why not a railway”. Some compare Maripasoula to a “open-air prison” the isolation is so important there.

For a little over a month, the water level of the Maroni has never been so low and no canoe is sailing between Saint-Laurent du Maroni and Maripasoula. The drought accentuates isolation, supply difficulties and the high cost of living. In Maripasoula at the start of the week, the pack of water was still selling for 18 euros.

The opening up of isolated municipalities was already part of the demands during the 2017 demonstrations. In the “Guyana Accords”, measures provided for the construction of road infrastructure to allow the opening up of inland municipalities. According to the associations, “these agreements are not respected”.

In 2023, commitments were also made during the Sinnamary agreements ratifying the creation of a road network in the interior. The Apachi collective had obtained a protocol essentially committing the CTG. It primarily provided for road infrastructure for Maripasoula, Grand-Santi, Camopi, Saül, Apatou, Saint-Elie, Ouanary and Papaïchton.

This Sunday, the mobilized people say to themselves “in solidarity with these isolated communities” and hope to be heard again.

Beyond opening up, in Cayenne, demonstrators were also angry against “insecurity and lack of economic development in Guyana”. These themes have already come up several times in the mobilizations of recent months and years in the territory.