WNU #982: Guadeloupe Strike Wins--Repression Next?

Weekly News Update on the Americas
Issue #982, March 8, 2009

1. Guadeloupe: Strike Wins--Repression Next?
2. Links to alternative sources on: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, El Salvador, Mexico, Cuba, US Policy

ISSN#: 1084‑922X. Weekly News Update on the Americas covers news from Latin America and the Caribbean, compiled and written from a progressive perspective. It has been published weekly by the Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York since 1990. For a subscription, write to weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com. It is archived at http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com

*1. Guadeloupe: Strike Wins--Repression Next?
A 44-day general strike in the French Caribbean department of Guadeloupe ended with an agreement signed on Mar. 4 by representatives of the French government and the Collective Against Extreme Exploitation (LKP), which led the strike [see Update #981]. In the Jacques Binot Accord--named for a union leader killed the night of Feb. 17 [see Update #980]--the LKP won its basic demand for a raise of 200 euros a month (now about $253) for low-wage workers. The agreement's 165 articles also cover a wide range of economic demands: reductions in charges for school meals, in bank rates, in the price of water, in the price of auto fuel; lower real estate taxes; a 20% reduction in bus fares between towns; a rent freeze; and a freeze on the price of a loaf of bread.

The MEDEF--the Movement of Businesses of France, the most powerful French business association--refused to sign the accord. It is not clear how many workers local MEDEF members employ; estimates range as high as 30,000-40,000. But most Guadeloupeans seemed to consider the agreement a big win. Thousands of strike supporters celebrated with a demonstration in Pointe-à-Pitre, the departmental capital, on Mar. 7; several hundred supporters also demonstrated in Paris. "The economy is on its knees," an activist said in Pointe-à-Pitre when the accord was signed on Mar. 4, "but Guadeloupe will never be the way it was before."

On Mar. 7 the local government announced it was starting an investigation of LKP spokesperson Elie Domota, secretary general of the General Union of Guadeloupe Workers (UGTG), for "provocation to discrimination, hate and violence against persons or categories of persons because of their origin." The investigation refers to two remarks Domota made during a television appearance on Télé Guadeloupe on Mar. 5: "Either [the employers] will apply the accord, or they'll leave Guadeloupe" and "We won't let a band of békés reestablish slavery." Béké is a Creole term for the descendants of white slave owners.

A general strike which began on Feb. 5 in the nearby overseas department of Martinique was still in progress on Mar. 8. Strikers, employers and the government had agreed on a framework for settling the strike on Mar. 3; as in Guadeloupe, this would include a 200 euro raise for low-wage workers. But some unions refused to sign on, although talks continued. Nine people were arrested on Mar. 6 after confrontations with the police, who said three agents had been shot and "slightly wounded." The night of Mar. 6-7 fire fighters put out numerous blazes set in rubbish and bus shelters. On Mar. 7 some 4,000-5,000 people marched peacefully to support the Feb. 5 Collective, which has led the strike.

In an action clearly inspired by the strikes in Guadeloupe and Martinique, some 10,000-15,000 people demonstrated on Mar. 5 in La Réunion, a French overseas department in the Indian Ocean. (Nouvel Observateur (France) 3/6/09 from AP; Ouest-France 3/6/09; Le Monde (France) 3/7/09, some from AFP; AFP 3/8/09)

Activists in Guadeloupe and Martinique stressed effect their actions could have on continental France. Asked in an internet chat on Feb. 27 why the government and employers resisted the 200 euro wage increase for so long, Guadeloupe union leader Domota answered: "Most certainly to prevent the idea from catching on in France." Martinique's pro-independence National Council of Grassroots Committees stressed the French government's fear "of the extension of the mobilizations into France itself" as the world economic crisis accelerates. (MRzine 3/1/09, translated from Le Monde 2/27/09; AlterPresse (Haiti) 5/5/09)

*2. Links to alternative sources on: Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, El Salvador, Mexico, Cuba, US Policy

From Colombia to Guatemala: Carnival Takes Back the Streets
http://nacla.org/node/5580

Argentina blasts CIA warning on instability
http://ww4report.com/node/6968

New Declarations Against Impunity in Uruguay
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1745/1/

Resource Wars in Ecuador
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1744/68/

Lawsuit: Canadian Mining Firm Financed Violence in Ecuador
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1742/68/

Colombia extradites another para commander --over protests from rights groups http://ww4report.com/node/6981

Colombia: UN relief chief meets with ethnicities affected by floods, displacement
http://ww4report.com/node/6982

Venezuela: Chávez sends army to seize rice processors
http://ww4report.com/node/6967

"Anti-imperialism of fools" in Venezuela?
http://ww4report.com/node/6872#comment‑316398

Indigenous Panamanians Defend Nature Against Speculators' Violent Onslaughts http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1744/68/

Will the Winds of Change Reach El Salvador?
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1746/68/

El Salvador Left Poised for Election Victory: FMLN Party Promises a People-Centered Government http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1740/1/

Mexico: more army troops to Juárez in wake of prison massacre http://ww4report.com/node/6983

Cuba: For the Love of Libros - A Book Fair and a Fortress
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1747/1/

Pre-Electoral Political Tension and Antagonism High in El Salvador http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1741/1/

Solidarity: A Middle Ground for a New Era
http://nacla.org/node/5583

Beyond the Four Freedoms: Obama and Sovereignty
http://nacla.org/node/5568

For more Latin America news stories from mainstream and
alternative sources:
http://nacla.org/articles

For immigration updates and events:
http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com/

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