Rodrigue Petitot, head of the Rally for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources (RPPRAC), gives a speech in Paris against the high cost of living overseas on November 3, 2024 (AFP / GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT)
Riots and looting broke out during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday in Fort-de-France after the arrest of Rodrigue Petitot, the main figure in the mobilization against the high cost of living in Martinique, we learned from the prefecture , which reported eight arrests and three minor injuries.
At the head of the Rally for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources (RPPRAC), Rodrigue Petitot, known as “the R”, was placed in police custody on Tuesday at the central police station of the capital of the Caribbean island in following a complaint for home invasion and acts of intimidation against people exercising a public function, according to the prosecution.
Monday evening, the R entered in the company of three other people into the prefectural residence in the upscale Didier district of Fort-de-France. An intrusion whose aim was to obtain an interview with the Minister of Overseas Territories, François-Noël Buffet, currently visiting Martinique.
Following this arrest, 350 people gathered on Tuesday evening in front of the police headquarters, the prefecture said in a press release. Grenade, mortar and firearm fire targeted mobile gendarmes, causing three minor injuries, according to the same source.
“Armed rioters” confronted security forces with throwing projectiles and molotov cocktails. The crowd was dispersed by the use of force, added the prefecture.
During part of the night, people attempted to set fire to vehicles and buildings in downtown Fort-de-France and Saint-Joseph and to erect roadblocks in the area. Six stores were looted, eight people arrested, according to the prefecture's press release.
Monday evening, it was the prefect of Martinique, Jean-Christophe Bouvier, who physically opposed the entry of the president of the RPPRAC into his residence. The attitude of the collective's leaders was “unacceptable, unimaginable, intolerable”, said Mr. Bouvier.
“We are waiting for the R to be released. I fear this evening a new night of disturbances which will be the responsibility of the prefect and the minister”, reacted Tuesday after his questioning the secretary of the RPPRAC, Aude Goussard, on the microphone of the local radio RCI.
According to the Martinique Transport Authority, a flaming roadblock was erected Tuesday on Avenue Maurice Bishop in the Sainte-Thérèse district where Rodrigue Petitot claimed to reside. The authority has suspended public transport in the center of the island.
Arriving Monday evening in Martinique for a four-day visit, the Minister of Overseas Territories said he was “ready to meet everyone” on the island, including the leaders of the RPPRAC, returning to the department after a stay ten days in Paris to organize demonstrations.
Since September, Martinique has been affected by a movement against the high cost of living which degenerated with urban riots and violence mainly at night during which, according to figures from the prefecture, more than 230 vehicles were deliberately burned and dozens of commercial premises were burned, vandalized or looted.
