"Regarding the powers of the State, they require the arrival in Guadeloupe of an interministerial delegation to provide answers to the problems of Guadeloupe, in connection with the proposals of elected officials", indicated the elected Guadeloupe in a press release. .

"(...) Elected officials recall that the issue of local domiciliation of decision-making power must be approached in a concerted manner", they added.

On Friday, in a televised address to Guadeloupe, Overseas Minister Sébastien Lecornu said the government was "ready" to raise the issue of more autonomy if this could allow "to solve the real problems of the daily life of Guadeloupe" .

According to him, the question was asked "in hollow" by "some elected officials" during the negotiations of the last days following the eruption, ten days ago, of a protest movement enamelled with violence, degradation , looting, fires and road blockages.

Born from the refusal of the vaccination obligation of caregivers and firefighters, it embraced multiple demands, social, economic and identity.

Sébastien Lecornu's proposal was immediately pounded by the right-wing and far-right opposition who denounced a retreat or a drop, even an attempt to "buy the radical separatists" for the RN candidate for the 2022 presidential election. The pen.

At the entrance to the Pointe-à-Pitre University Hospital, November 26, 2021 Christophe ARCHAMBAULT AFP

On the left, Jean-Luc Mélenchon (LFI) considered "Macron's response" "astounding" and called on not to speak of status until "when the time comes", the resolution of the "social and health emergency" being a priority according to him.

The question of autonomy is "irrelevant", for his part ruled Elie Domota, spokesperson for the union collective LKP, on LCI, stressing that the demonstrators were "never heard" on their demand for "negotiations on the vaccination obligation and the health pass ".

The minister "does this to scare us, to keep us quiet! We never spoke to him about autonomy!"

even if "local decision-makers (must be able to) make decisions without going through France" criticized Danielle, 63, for her part.

"Because what is good for France is not necessarily good here, and vice-versa", she sums up, met on Saturday in a new event, part of the Pointe-à-Pitre University Hospital, to ask the total lifting of the vaccination obligation for caregivers and firefighters.

Guadeloupe, Martinique: the stages of the crisis Julien NGUYEN DANG AFP

2,000 to 3,000 people were present, some holding up signs "Freedom cannot be injected", "Fouté nou la Pé" or "Liberté".

The mobilization therefore continued the day after the announcements from the government which, to get out of this crisis, postponed the application of the vaccination obligation to December 31.

He also proposed the lifting of the suspension of unvaccinated staff and their remuneration for those who accept "personal support", in particular with a view to reclassification.

In Guadeloupe as in Martinique, 120 km away and which has been won over by the contagion, the situation remains unstable with filtering or hermetic dams, sometimes dismantled by the police before being reassembled by the demonstrators, noted AFP journalists.

The prefecture of Martinique has identified "events of particular intensity in Schoelcher and Fort-de-France (destruction of a service station as well as that of a post office)".

"Four gendarmes were injured, especially in the face, by lead shots," according to the Fort-de-France prosecutor's office.

"Individuals entered the municipal police of Fort-de-France and stole bulletproof vests, so very clearly today we know that some people seek to protect themselves, in front of us, and we fear the worst now ", worries Jimmy Hellénis, departmental secretary SGP Police FO Unit.

Twelve arrests took place in Martinique and four in Guadeloupe, according to the prefectures.

Both islands remain under curfew.

© 2021 AFP