Figure of the movement against the high cost of living in Martinique, Rodrigue Petitot, head of the Rally for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources (RPPRAC), was arrested Tuesday evening in Fort-de-France, it was reported learned from the prosecution. Petitot, known as “the R”, was placed in police custody at the central police station of the capital of the island following a complaint for home invasion and acts of intimidation against people exercising public service, according to the same source.
An opposition between the prefect and Rodrigue Petitot
Monday evening, Rodrigue Petitot entered the prefectural residence in the upscale Didier district of Fort-de-France with three other people. An intrusion whose aim was to obtain an interview with the Minister of Overseas Territories, François-Noël Buffet, currently visiting Martinique.
It was the prefect of Martinique, Jean-Christophe Bouvier, who physically opposed the entry of the president of the RPPRAC into the residence. The attitude of the leaders of the collective was “unacceptable, unimaginable, intolerable”, estimated 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”, for her part reacted Tuesday evening the secretary of the RPPRAC, Aude Goussard, on the radio microphone local RCI.
François-Noël Buffet “willing to meet everyone”
After the announcement of Rodrigue Petitot's arrest, around a hundred people gathered in front of the Fort-de-France police station to demand his release, an AFP journalist noted on Tuesday around 8:30 p.m. According to the Martinique Transport Authority, a flaming roadblock was erected 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, François-Noël Buffet said he was “willing to meet everyone” on the island, including the leaders of the RPPRAC, who returned to the department on Monday after a stay of 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 were deliberately burned and dozens of commercial premises were set on fire, vandalized or looted.
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