Grèves, émeutes et évasions

Almost too much news in France at the moment. Current main headline is the civil unrest in the Antilles, which pushed another national broadcast last night by Sarkozy further down the front page. Earlier in the week it was a violent and audacious prison break which dominated news bulletins.

Sarko's pre-recorded prime time broadcast last night was his second of the month. The first was a marathon two and a half hour question and answer session with four journalists from the main TV and radio channels to respond to the financial and social crisis that is gripping France, much like the rest of the world. It was something of a tour de force, but did little to ease fears. Last night was a mere ten minute, straight to camera address, intended address criticism that he'd announced little in the way of concrete action the previous time. Various measures to help the less well off and struggling small businesses were announced, but few think it's enough...

Monsieur le Président also only made a passing mention of the crisis some think should be top of the political agenda at the moment. France's Caribbean départements are in a state of near breakdown at the moment. There's been a general strike in Guadaloupe for nearly a month now, and recently the situation has deteriorated into riots which came to a head yesterday when a union official was shot and killed by protestors as he tried to turn round at a road block. Meanwhile there is also now a general strike in Martinique, and Guyane is looking like heading down the same road.

It's all about the high cost and low standard of living in the Antilles. The protestors claim that a small, white elite originating from mainland France hold a financial stranglehold on the islands, and maintain a cartel which keeps prices artificially high. It's certainly true that the cost of living there (as we saw first hand in St Martin) is much higher than in the Métropole. This morning François Fillon, the Premier Ministre, announced a 200 euro monthly supplement to low wage earners. It remains to be seen whether that's enough...

On a slightly lighter note, jailbreaks in France seem to be a favourite past time and preoccupation of French criminals. There was a recent popular film about Jacques Mésrine, public enemy number one in the sixties and seventies, who escaped several times from prison, and while on the run attempted to break some of his cronies out of another jail. After numerous bank robberies, murders and kidnappings he was eventually killed while evading capture in Paris in 1979.

The latest to try and emulate him were two major criminals who managed to escape from Moulins prison by blowing up the door of the visiting room and taking two guards hostage on the way out. Despite crashing on the autoroute shortly afterwards, and being chased by two helicopters and sundry police vehicles, they somehow managed to evade capture by busting through the toll barriers. They later released the guards, commandeered another car and took the occupants hostage. Another car and hostage swap later, they were finally captured after two days on the run in a shoot out on another autoroute near Paris. One of them received two bullets in the chest for his pains, and his girlfriend has just been arrested on charges of supplying them with explosives.

Not all prison breaks are successful though. A high security prison in south west has just claimed to have foiled an elaborate attempt by a couple of Corsican mafia members to escape using a helicopter and a massive steel box which was designed to shield them from prison guard and police bullets. A French criminal hasn't made it unless he's at least attempted to break out of gaol.

Life in Lyon seems quiet in comparison...

Sarko fait sa réapparition

Knew it wouldn't be long before le hyperprésident took over the headlines. In the last couple of weeks La France has faced strikes on the railways, strikes among state employees, protests in schools & universities, two nights of rioting in a Parisian banlieue, the list keeps growing and Sarkozy's approval rating keeps falling. Yesterday morning he got back from a trip to China, went straight to visit injured gendarmes in hospital, received the families of the two jeunes whose deaths had sparked the riots, convened emergency cabinet meeting, then had breakfast.

Yesterday evening he gave an hour-long television interview on the two main terrestrial channels, addressing in particular the social unrest and "low purchasing power" (read pay) which is being portrayed as the main preoccupation of ordinary French people. The unions and the left have pointed out that he offered nothing concrete to help increase le pouvoir d'achat, the employers and the right have applauded him for "breaking the lock" on the 35 hour week. Plus ça change...

The blockades and unrest in the universities (and a few schools) continues. In Lyon yesterday there was a strange incident when students occupying a building in part of a university campus on the outskirts of Lyon were alleged to have gone to a nearby supermarket, filled 6 trolleys with food & supplies and barged out without paying. The university principal called in the police who arrested a dozen students. Randomly according to the students, who accused the principal of using the supermarket 'raid' as an excuse to end the occupation...