PARIS (Reuters) – France is prepared to debate autonomy for the French Caribbean territory of Guadeloupe whether it is within the pursuits of the individuals who reside there, authorities minister Sebastien Lecornu stated.
Guadeloupe and the close by French island of Martinique have seen a number of days of protests in opposition to COVID-19 measures which have spilled over into violence.
Lecornu, the minister for France’s abroad territories, stated in a YouTube video issued late on Friday that sure elected officers in Guadeloupe had raised the query of autonomy, altering its standing as an abroad area.
“The federal government is able to discuss this. There are not any dangerous debates, so long as these debates serve to resolve the true on a regular basis issues of individuals in Guadeloupe,” he stated.
That was one among a sequence of initiatives he stated the federal government in Paris could be taking in Guadeloupe, together with bettering healthcare, infrastructure tasks, and a scheme to create jobs for younger individuals.
The French authorities this week introduced that it will be suspending a requirement that public sector staff in Guadeloupe and Martinique get a COVID-19 vaccination.
That had sparked protests, fanning long-standing grievances over residing requirements and the connection with Paris.
In Guadeloupe there’s a historic distrust of the French authorities’s dealing with of well being crises after many individuals have been uncovered to poisonous pesticides utilized in banana plantations within the Seventies.
(Reporting by Christian Lowe; Modifying by Alexander Smith)
