Arriving in Paris the day before with members of the RPPRAC, Rodrigue Petitot, the leader of the social movement in Martinique, is participating in the mobilization against the high cost of living overseas organized this Sunday, November 3 in the capital. Guest of the newspaper Outre-mer l'info on France 3, he said he was ready “to go where no one has been before”.
Red hooded sweatshirt, a badge “I support the mobilization against the high cost of living” pinned on it, Rodrigue Petitot has a calm tone which contrasts with the tragedy of his words: “We have a people who are not simply suffering, we have a people who are dying, a people who are being starved..”
“At a time when France is trying to help everyone in the world, I think it has forgotten that Martinique, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Reunion are part of French lands.“, he continues during this first television interview in France.
The leader of the movement against the high cost of living denounces double standards between France and overseas. “We have prices that are criminal. We have a large cast which is in the process of vampirizing an entire populationhe breathes, listing the Antilles, Guyana, Reunion. Today, we hear that we are French, we understand it, but we also want this to be translated into action. And feed yourself, just like those on the continent, I think that's the least we can do.”
Hence his presence and that of other leaders of the Rally for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources (RPPRAC) in Paris this weekend to participate this Sunday in the march to the Ministry of Overseas Territories, alongside several other overseas collectives.
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©Jean-Michel Mazerolle / France Télévisions
Although the tenant of rue Oudinot François-Noël Buffet announced his arrival in Martinique in mid-November two and a half months after the start of the mobilization, the figure of the movement against the high cost of living hopes to see him in the coming days in Paris: “We saw that it took a long time. He said 'Not under pressure.' I think maybe at home here he will be under less pressure. Maybe he will want to hear the suffering of the people.”
Rodrigue Petitot and those responsible for the RPPRAC want in any case “touch the diaspora, touch politicians, touch all those who have the power to change things. Already the diaspora first and foremost because this fight, we have always said, is the people by the people for the people because we have always let people decide for us.”
A fight that the Martinican inscribes in line with the general strike of 2009 in Guadeloupe: “Our parents fought to change that. It couldn't change despite the energy they put into it. Today, we, children, are still in this suffering and we are leading this fight. We do not intend to leave this fight for our children or our grandchildren.”
He also salutes those who show their support. After Kalash, Thierry Henry, Wendie Renard, it was recently the multiple Olympic medalist judoka Teddy Riner who spoke about the situation in Martinique. “We thank Teddy Riner because indeed, I think that our artists, our athletes have a big role to play in this fight to bring the message of the people to the highest level because we really have a people who are suffering“, he assures.
Asked about the second phase of the movement mentioned during a press conference before his departure for Paris, Rodrigue Petitot asserted: “We're ready to go where no one has gone before. And we say it, we say it again because it is unacceptable and it is impossible for us to continue as it is.“
He will not give further details, preferring “stay as quiet as possible“on future actions.”In any case, we are going to go there with determination and strength because we are extremely determined“, he concludes.
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