Guadeloupe facing the economic crisis

The island has been on strike for weeks. The organization Lyannaj kont pwofitasyon (LKP) is leading the protest, and the strikes are getting more and more violent. French government member in charge of the issue, Yves Jego, was sent to the island in order to solve the problem, et flew back to France on Sunday, which surprised the population. Therefore, he promised to cut the price of a hundred of “goods of first necessity” by 10%, and works on the revendication to raise the minimum wage of 200 euros.

Since he left the island, the movement has gotten tougher, and all the stores were closed on Monday, day of “dead Guadeloupe”.

Retailing is also being a victim of these protests: stealing, vandalism, destruction, occupation of the stores… French TV news talked a lot about that. These retailing companies have closed since the crisis was triggered, around January 15^th, and only little stores are still on tracks.

There are many explanations to the problem. First of all, on the cultural point of view, Guadeloupe has always been reluctant towards France and the French people, wishing for more autonomy. Then, prices in the DOM-TOM are far higher than in the main land while wages are not. The government cannot practice the same prices on the main land and on the islands, as the price of transport has to be taken into account. But raising the minimum wages does not seem to be the best way out of the crisis, as bosses will have to raise their prices in order to pay their employees… Maybe the whole thing would start with a valorization of local products, if local producer can handle it.