Born from the refusal of the vaccine obligation against Covid-19 for caregivers and firefighters, the social movement, which also affects Saint-Martin, has spread to political and social demands, in particular against the high cost of living, causing violence, looting and fires.

To the point that Guadeloupe and Martinique have been placed under curfew.

In Guadeloupe, the lull comes the day after the meeting between the "collective in struggle" and local elected officials.

A method agreement, prior to negotiations, must be validated "shortly" and sent to elected officials, AFP learned from union representatives.

The collective insisted "on the necessary presence of an interministerial delegation" in these negotiations.

The government gave a mandate to the prefect "to conduct negotiations with the mayors" with whom Sébastien Lecornu had exchanged during his short stay on the island earlier this week, said the Ministry of Overseas.

Some of the local elected officials, in particular the regional president Ary Chalus and the elected parliamentarians, had boycotted the minister's visit.

On the island, only three blocking points persisted on Friday afternoon, a source of the gendarmerie told AFP.

These include La Boucan-Sainte-Rose, where nearly 20 dams stretch over seven kilometers, Morne-à-l'Eau and Perrin, a hotbed of contestation due to its proximity to the headquarters. firefighters from which the protest movement started.

The unblocked roads are done "at the cost of heavy presence of law enforcement on the ground" to prevent resettlement in the wake, we learned from the same source.

In Martinique, calm reigned Friday on the roads, free of any roadblock with a few exceptions.

A roadblock was temporarily installed on the RN2 in the Fond Lahayé district in Schoelcher but it was quickly dismantled by the gendarmes, AFP noted.

Blockages remain at the commercial port of Fort-de-France, at the tip of the Grives.

The inter-union, the dockers' union and the management of the Grand Port Maritime have reached an agreement to allow the exit of containers of costs and medical equipment.

"But the situation remains chaotic," according to Jean-Claude Florenty, president of the Martinique freight forwarders union.

This filtering must be repeated on Saturday.

After the relaxation agreed on Thursday, freight carriers took over the dam in front of the site of the only refinery on Île au Lamentin.

"No tanker truck could be loaded on Friday," the Antilles refinery public limited company (Sara) confirmed to AFP.

© 2021 AFP