Bayonne (AFP)

Hundreds of anti-G7 protesters participated Sunday in Bayonne at a rally where were shown some of the 128 portraits of Emmanuel Macron, called "president of the polluters' Republic, that environmental activists have won in town halls since February .

This "march of portraits", which gathered 900 people according to the organizers, and many journalists, was the third demonstration in two days of the anti-G7, this time "for climate and social justice".

This action, "100% non-violent", took place "openly" as desired by the organizers, alternative movements and ecologists ANV COP 21, Alternatiba and Bizi (the latter two Basques).

In the narrow streets of central Bayonne, activists - among whom barely a handful of "yellow vests" - wandered around brandishing hundreds of packaged executives, and seven authentic "unhooked" portraits of the head of state, upside down, chanting "and 1, and 2, and 3 degrees is a crime against humanity!" or "we are all portrait dropouts!"

"We wear it upside down to signify the lack of meaning of its policy," explained Mathieu, a Bizi activist.

The protesters then converged on a square with the portraits to listen to officials denouncing the "green polish" of Macron's policy and his "distorted image of champion of the earth", citing the CETA pell-mell, the refusal to tax the kerosene aircraft, or the financing of fossil fuels.

Emmanuel Macron "can trumpet that we must save the Amazon (fires) but when you are a firefighter and arsonist, you are not credible," said Cécile Marchand, an organizer and herself "drop-in" portrait.

The protesters dispersed in calm after two hours of action "in the most secure area of ​​the French state", according to them. The police, however, remained very discreet throughout the event.

Friday morning, on the eve of the G7, the 128th stall portrait of the head of state claimed by the campaign of civil disobedience "Let's pick Macron" had taken place in the town hall of a small village in the Basque country, Irissary (Pyrenees- Atlantiques). A "snub" to the impressive security device deployed on the region for the G7, with 13,200 policemen, according to the organizers.

The day of Saturday was marked by two demonstrations of opponents at the summit: the largest, which gathered 15,000 people according to the organizers (9,000 according to the police), marched from Hendaye to Irun, on the Spanish border, in the calm and without incident.

At the end of the day Saturday in Bayonne, a demonstration, unauthorized this one, gave rise to brief clashes between police and demonstrators, with shots of water cannons and tear gas, but without major overflows, without injuries or damage to the shops .

During the day, 68 people were arrested, 38 of which were held in police custody, according to the prefecture, without specifying the place or context of the arrests. A dozen of these guards were lifted at midday Sunday.

© 2019 AFP