Riots in the French Caribbean Resort of Guadeloupe. (genghis)

(Also overnight open thread as you like)

Headline from the UK Daily Mail: “Britons Flee French Island of Guadeloupe as Rioters Turn on White Families.” Link to the article is here.

This story has been somewhat under the radar screen, and the article was written on Feb. 19th, so a little old, but what gives? (I’ve squished the format together somewhat because the article treats every sentence as its own paragraph. –ed.)

”Britons are among thousands of tourists fleeing Guadeloupe after full scale urban warfare erupted on the French Caribbean island. Trouble broke out on the island earlier last month after protesters began rioting over high prices and low wages. But the situation escalated this week after protesters began turning on rich white families as they demanded an end to colonial control of the economy.”

”Protesters were now targeting ‘all white people,’ with the media in France describing the situation as virtual civil war. Guadeloupe is a French overseas department ruled directly from Paris, and authorities in France have sent 300 extra riot police to the island in a bid to quell the violence. Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters are roaming the streets of the capital Point-a-Pitre, looting shops and restaurants, burning cars and vandalizing buildings.”

:The first protests began a month ago when the left-wing union coalition, the Collective Against Exploitation, demanded a 180 pound a month pay increase for low wage earners.

”Union Leader Jacques Bino was the first man to die in the violence when he was caught in the crossfire on Tuesday while driving a car near a roadblock manned by armed youths who had opened fire at police.”

Thanks to “old guy”(?) for the tip. I never heard back from him if that was his screen name or not.

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posted by xgenghisx at 10:17 PM

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