Hundreds of protesters blocked the port of Fort-de-France in Martinique on Sunday, September 1. They are demanding that food prices be aligned with those in mainland France.
Several hundred demonstrators blocked the port of Fort-de-France in Martinique on Sunday, September 1, to protest against the “high cost of living” and demand that food prices be aligned with those in mainland France, an AFP correspondent noted.
Barricades of tires and pallets prevented access to the container terminal of the port of Fort-de-France since 8 a.m. (2 p.m. Paris time) on Sunday evening, blocking the only route accessible to heavy goods vehicles to the port terminal of Pointe des Grives. The demonstrators were responding to the call of the Rally for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources (RPPRAC).
“The only satisfaction we will have is when there are affordable and respectable prices that allow all people living overseas to have better purchasing power,” said Aude Goussard, treasurer of the RPPRAC.
“Prices are nonsense”
Since July 1, the collective has sent “an injunction” to the players in the Martinique mass distribution sector, ordering them to align their prices with those practiced in mainland stores. An ultimatum had been set for September 1.
“As long as we are asked to pay more than 300% more for a bottle of water for the same brand, in the same store, we will continue,” warned Aude Goussard.
The initial meeting was scheduled for 7am this Sunday in front of a shopping centre in Fort-de-France. It was on this occasion that the leaders of the collective announced the arrest of Rodrigue Petitot, nicknamed Le R, president of the RPPRAC, early this Sunday morning.
“The prices are nonsense and we’ll arrest those who dare to say out loud what’s wrong,” said an angry protester, who preferred to remain anonymous.
The man, aged around 30, was arrested near a bus depot where damage and an attempted theft were observed by the police, a police source said. Wearing a balaclava when he was arrested, he was taken into custody, according to the same source.
Food prices 40% higher than in mainland France
Dressed in red, the demonstrators then set off on foot towards the port, about 4 kilometres away.
“It seems legitimate to me for the people of Martinique to mobilize for a just cause, which is to reduce the cost of living,” commented Béatrice Bellay, MP and general secretary of the Socialist Federation of Martinique, present in front of the port of Fort-de-France.
According to an INSEE study in 2022, food prices were 40% higher in Martinique than in mainland France.
