• Elections Emmanuel Macron, Europe and the new toys

Overshadowed by the altercations in Paris, on May 1, thousands of protesters gathered in different cities of France in

an environment marked by a coalition of leftist parties that

is increasingly close to forming for the French legislative elections in June.

In the French capital, like other years, there

were riots outside the main demonstration

, attributed to small groups of hooded radicals who smashed and set fire to street furniture, fast food restaurants or bank branches.

Of the authorized march that started without incident from the Place de la République -with some 21,000 participants-,

there was a marginal part that separated and gathered in the Place Léon Blum

, next to the Boulevard Voltaire.

The police -there were 1,500 mobilized- launched tear gas to disperse.

There were also riots in the Place de la Nation.

At the moment, the amount of material damage was not communicated,

but a balance was given of the number of injured (8 police officers so far)

and detainees: at least 45, including a woman who attacked a firefighter.

According to the Minister of the Interior of France,

Gérald Darmanin

, it is "a part of the ultra-left that has been organizing for years, with French and also foreigners, who come expressly to attack the French police."

Darmanin, from the far right wing of

Emmanuel Macron

's Executive , responded in a public statement to the leader of the French left,

Jean-Luc Mélenchon

, who accused the Government Delegation on Twitter of being "incapable" of preventing riots, despite being aware that there were problematic groups.

The minister denounced Mélenchon's "ambiguity and double language" about these episodes of "unacceptable violence".

GROWING SOCIAL FRACTURE

The Labor Day demonstration, made up of unions and left-wing parties, takes place in the midst of a growing social fracture in France, blamed on the measures of the president, the liberal

Emmanuel Macron

, re-elected last Sunday for five more years.

"I don't expect anything at all from Macron's new five-year term, I just hope he has listened to the message we gave him and that he doesn't open a highway to the extreme right," warned Dominic, 61, retired from the electricity sector and of gas.

The protest comes a week after Macron beat the far-right

Marine Le Pen

in the second round, partly thanks to the votes of the left, eliminated in the first with a notable result (22% of the vote).

Among the messages of the demonstration, those who were in favor of a decrease in the retirement age, which Macron wants to extend, and for an increase in the minimum wage stood out.

Just five weeks before the legislative elections,

the messages that circulated in the protest were also electoral

, especially due to the attempt of the left to unite in a joint candidacy to have a good presence in the Assembly that counteracts the power of Macron .

A little before the start of the demonstration, Mélenchon, leader of the left-wing force with the most votes, France Insumisa (LFI), gave a small rally in front of hundreds of militants in the Place de la République.

In a fiery intervention, he was optimistic about reaching an agreement between the different progressive forces and gave himself until midnight this Sunday to do so.

"We are millimeters away from achieving it, we have made progress, if they do not end (the negotiations) tonight they will never do so. We are only five weeks away from the legislative elections," revealed Mélenchon.

Shortly after these statements, the Socialists, one of the most reluctant parties to the agreement and who had withdrawn from the table on Friday,

announced that they are negotiating again.

Mélenchon, who garnered 22% of the vote in the presidential elections in April, is negotiating an agreement with the Socialist Party (PS), the Greens and the communists to form joint candidates.

The leader, received by his followers shouting "prime minister"

, said he had accepted all the conditions set by the other parties and guaranteed them their own parliamentary group - 15 deputies are needed - an offer that he considers generous considering the percentages of the presidential.

While the LFI obtained 22%, the Greens obtained 4.7%, the Communists, 2.3%, and the PS of the candidate

Anne Hidalgo

, 1.7%. leaving the EU in the next five years, although he warned that France "will disobey" the European rules and treaties that contradict what "the French people have decided", without specifying more.

Shortly after his speech, the general secretary of the PS,

Olivier Faure

, announced that he was resuming negotiations with LFI tonight.

With the Greens, the agreement is very likely, according to their leaders.

The biggest stumbling block now is the historic French Communist Party (PCF), since "it has withdrawn from the table," lamented Mélenchon himself.

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