Tensions remain strong in Guadeloupe and Martinique around the issue of compulsory vaccination to which economic and social demands have been added. On the constitutional ground, the Minister of Overseas Territories, Sébastien Lecornu, raised the possibility of granting greater autonomy to the West Indies, provoking strong reactions.
A government ” in panic “,” ready to let go “Of the territories of the Republic to satisfy” radical separatists “: From Marine Le Pen to Xavier Bertrand via Eric Ciotti, right-wing and far-right presidential candidates have castigated Sébastien Lecornu’s proposal.
” There is no bad debate “In the face of the crisis, the Minister of Overseas France had estimated, claiming to respond to the demands of local politicians. But that falls badly, according to the Republican deputy Julien Aubert. He points to the difficulties already encountered with the referendum on the independence of another overseas area, New Caledonia.
Dependence on the European Union
The autonomy issue looks especially like a backfire from the government, unable for the moment to respond to the anger that has invaded Guadeloupe and Martinique. Already in 2009, during another social crisis, Nicolas Sarkozy had put on the table the extension of the prerogatives of Caribbean and Guyanese communities.
And the population had preferred the status quo, many parts of the local economy being, for example, dependent on European aid. However, an extended autonomy, as in Polynesia or New Caledonia, would remove the Antilles from the European Union.
►Also read: New Caledonia: the referendum on self-determination maintained on December 12