It was last Sunday (November 3, 2024) in Paris: at the call of several overseas collectives, several thousand people from the West Indian, Caledonian and Reunionese diasporas demonstrated against the high cost of living with explicit slogans: “Béké insatiables”, “Criminal monopoly” or even “Rèspektem nous ou encore”.
In Martinique, where food products cost on average 30 to 42% more than in mainland France, anger erupted two months ago: roadblocks, businesses burned, activity on the island paralyzed, curfew… The RPPRAC, the Rally for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources, created in July, demands an alignment of prices with those practiced in France.
Are overseas residents right to denounce the “double standards” between mainland France and the overseas territories? How is the cost of living explained in these territories? Why can’t we resolve this recurring problem? How can we transform a counter economy, in place since colonization, into a productive and autonomous economy? Should France rebuild its relationship with these distant lands?
Three guests :
– Pascal Blanchardhistorian, researcher at CRHIM at the University of Lausanne, specialist in the “colonial fact” and immigration in France
– Maryse Coppetlawyer at the Brussels Bar, originally from Guadeloupe and president of “Mouvement Outre-mer”
– Davy RimaneMP from Guyana, president of the Overseas delegation to the National Assembly, member of the Democratic and Republican Left group.