The recent protests in Martinique have resulted in significant injuries among law enforcement officers, with reports indicating that 30 gendarmes have sustained injuries since September 1st.
The number includes two officers who sustained gunshot wounds and one who required medical evacuation.
According to local media, individuals have hurled projectiles, including Molotov cocktails, at the law enforcers and a total of 21 police vehicles have sustained damage, some from gunfire.
As urban riots and roadblocks have intensified across the island, the issue of maintaining public order has become increasingly critical.
Yvan Carbonnelle, the commander of the gendarmerie, emphasised the severity of the situation, noting that the violence has escalated beyond mere protests into acts of delinquency.
Commander Carbonnelle asserted that those responsible for these crimes will be held accountable in light of the ongoing unrest. “We will apprehend them and present them to the judicial authorities,” he stated, underscoring that perpetrators of crimes and offenses will not go unpunished.
Carbonnelle revealed that many of the individuals involved in the violence are already known to authorities, predominantly adults who are organised and determined in their actions. “These are not random individuals,” he said.
“They are predominantly adults, not minors. These are people who are quite determined, sometimes organised, and engage in acts of delinquency. This is not simply a protest that is authorised, legal, and legitimate; we are dealing with criminal acts, often occurring at night,” the law enforcement official told RCI.FM.
As law enforcement continues to confront the challenges, the commitment to restoring order remains a top priority.
The authorities have urged the community to support these efforts and recognise the sacrifices made by those in uniform during this tumultuous period.
The latest Martinique unrest follows a brief period of relative calm.
The Assembly for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources has been at the forefront of protests against rising prices.
The group refused to sign a document to reduce the prices of approximately 6,000 food products by an average of 20 percent, deeming the number of products included in the agreement insufficient and highlighting that food prices in the region are about 40 percent higher than in mainland France.
As a result, the group has called for continued mobilisation.
Martinique and Guadeloupe was protesting peacefully against the hight cost of living since septembre 2024 but the French government did not pay attention to them.
And now, by damming the street in Martinique, this government replied them by sending military men to make the people stop protesting.
What the autorities don’t speak loudly it’s the cause of the hight cost of living. Indeed, it is because of the monopoly of the « béké » (the descendant of the french colonist) who have a lot of properties in Guadeloupe and in Martinique. Those properties was coming from the compensation gave by the french authorities.
Nowadays, the béké wealth keeps growing thanks to their businesses developed which are part of the whole economy sector of those two islands.
This monopoly keeps existing by avoiding Guadeloupe and Martinique people to create rival businesses to them. We are tired of the situation.