It’s the rich what gets the pleasure, it’s the poor that suffer under capitalism.
‘France has imposed another curfew on the Caribbean island of Martinique, amid violent protests over the soaring cost of living that have raging there for more than a month.
At least one person has been killed and 26 police officers injured in riots since the start of the week, and multiple stores have been looted. Videos circulating on social media show demonstrators putting up burning barricades and throwing rocks and bottles at police, who responded with tear gas.
The local French administration has announced a ban on public gatherings across the territory until October 14. The sale of items that could potentially be used for arson has also been prohibited, according to Reuters.
The local government has issued a statement stressing that no police officers used their weapons during the riots, and that the death of a civilian is being investigated, according to ABC News.
French Overseas Minister Francois-Noel Buffet has condemned the violence and called for “responsibility and calm.”
Didier Laguerre, mayor of the island’s capital, Fort-de-France, has sought to ease tensions, saying the protesters’ demands are legitimate.
“I understand the suffering and anger,” Laguerre said in a written statement. “I know everyone’s impatience and the resignation of those who have lost hope for a long time.”
In September, local authorities enforced a similar curfew in several neighbourhoods of Fort-de-France and the nearby town of Le Lamentin over the unrest on the island of 350,000 residents. Back then, the protests were led by the Assembly for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources, which demanded that food prices be aligned with mainland France.
Martinique and other French overseas territories have been struggling with spiralling food and transport costs. According to France’s National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, average food prices are 40% higher than in mainland France.
Protesters have been calling for reforms, including a reduction in import taxes and better regulation of local markets, to tackle inequality.’
There's only one solution to the problems people face - socialism.
Whilst in Moldova: ‘Anti-government protesters in Moldova’s capital, Chisinau, took to the streets with banners and empty pots denouncing the country’s pro-Western president, Maia Sandu, and her policies. The demonstrators accused Sandu’s administration of driving the country to poverty. The protest was unofficially called the “march of the hungry” and “the march of the deceived pensioners.”
Videos show dozens of people marching through the streets of Chisinau with banners reading: “Thanks, Sandu, for poverty and hunger,” “Sandu, go away,” and “For Moldova without the EU.” People chanted slogans calling for the president to step down, and banged on pots with spoons, chanting, “empty pots are louder than words.”
The march was organized by the opposition movement ‘Victory of the Young’. Yuri Vitnyansky, the movement’s leader, told RIA Novosti that the protesters seek to draw attention to the low standard of living in the country in the run-up to the heating season.
“We are on the eve of the heating season, we are facing new challenges of high prices for energy and electricity. We understand that hard times are coming not only for socially vulnerable groups of the population, but also for literally every resident of the country,” he said, explaining that the choice of empty pots as a symbol of the protest was intentional, “because the times have come when people save on everything, since there’s not enough money even for food.”
Moldova, which lies between Romania and Ukraine, is a former Soviet republic that became independent in 1991. It has been actively pushing for EU and NATO membership since 2020, when Sandu, a critic of Russia and supporter of EU integration, came to power.
The country is among the poorest in Europe, and Sandu’s opposition has accused her administration of failing to resolve the crisis in the economy and energy sector and driving Moldova into deeper poverty. Earlier this month, MP Irina Lozovan told Izvestia that farmers are being ruined by Sandu’s EU accession plans, accusing her of allowing businesses from the bloc to buy up land and property at low prices. Earlier this year, another MP, Diana Caraman, said that during Sandu’s rule, the country has greatly deteriorated, with a record 31% of the people on the brink of poverty’
Never put your trust in 'leaders' who are only concerned with how they can benefit from being capitalism's minions.
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