Guadeloupe - General strike against rising prices, a union official shot dead

Workers in Guadeloupe launched a general strike on 20 January in protest at the rising cost of living. Most businesses, services and government departments across the island have been totally shut down since the strike began, and over a quarter of the population has taking to the streets. Earlier this month workers in neighbouring Martinique joined the strike, and few nights ago heavy rioting as impoverished residents escalated their struggle. Protesters burned shops and businesses and erected roadblocks with overturned cars and chopped down coconut trees. Strikers warned that the government was preparing to murder demonstrators in order to quell the rebellion, after heavily armed French gendarmes were sent to the region.

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