"The minister is currently on his way to the West Indies (where) he will deepen on the spot the exchanges" of the last days, explained a source of the ministry who did not wish to specify the time of arrival "for security reasons" .
Mr. Lecornu is to meet Monday in Guadeloupe "local elected officials, economic players and unions", as the next day in Martinique, said this source without giving further details, adding that the minister would return Wednesday in Paris.
"In the two territories of Martinique and Guadeloupe, a notable return to calm took place in the night from Saturday to Sunday thanks to the tireless work of the police," said the same source.
A drop in tensions confirmed on the spot to AFP from a police source: "no violence in Guadeloupe" during the night, but all the same barricades in Martinique "with throwing projectiles including Molotov cocktails at gendarmes" .
An individual was arrested after setting one vehicle on fire and another "for refusing to comply and not respecting the curfew".
Demonstration against health measures in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, November 27, 2021 Christophe ARCHAMBAULT AFP
In Guadeloupe as in Martinique, 120 km away, the police had come under gunfire the previous nights.
Born from the refusal of the vaccination obligation of caregivers and firefighters, it embraced multiple demands, social, economic and identity.
The elected officials of Guadeloupe had requested Saturday the arrival of an interministerial delegation on the subject of the "competences of the State" after Mr. Lecornu put on the table Friday the question of the autonomy of the island, shaken like its neighbor Martinique by a social explosion.
Open discussions
Before flying to the West Indies, the minister welcomed an "method agreement signed last night (Paris time) between the State, the local elected officials of Martinique and the intersyndicale which will allow the opening of discussions on the main regional issues (health, fuel prices, youth, transport, etc.) ", underlines the Minister's entourage.
"Some of these themes concern the State, others more the local authorities: everyone will play their part", explains this source which took "note of the commitment of the intersyndicale to temporarily lift the roadblocks".
"Social dialogue for hospital staff and unvaccinated firefighters will continue," adds this source.
Overseas Minister Sébastien Lecornu, November 22, 2021 in Paris JULIEN DE ROSA AFP / Archives
On Friday, in a televised address to Guadeloupe, Mr. 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.
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.
Demonstration against health measures in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, November 27, 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 for her part.
"Because what is good for France is not necessarily good here, and vice-versa", summarizes this 63-year-old woman 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.
© 2021 AFP