Bulletin No50 septembre 2024 In October 2023, INSEE published a study entitled "Martinique faces monetary poverty". We do not know precisely what the term "monetary" adds to poverty, but this study sheds light on the current situation on the island.
In 2020, 27% of Martinicans live below the poverty line (12 points more than in mainland France, the threshold is set at 60% of the median income [1] in mainland France) and yet Martinique has the lowest poverty rate of the Overseas Departments!
The study also shows that this poverty rate is particularly marked in the youngest population (45% among those under 30). And if the poverty indicator has been in the red for a while now, the same is true of other indicators: jobs, health, public services (in particular water distribution), environment, etc.
This context partly explains the movement against the high cost of consumer goods, the vast majority of which are imported. In particular, food products are 40% more expensive in Martinique than in mainland France (a similar situation in the other overseas departments).
The Rally for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources (RPPRAC), a Martinique association, launched a campaign this summer to denounce the high cost of living on social networks and initiated attempts to block shopping centers. The movement grew in scale and, in the absence of any negotiation, the situation became extremely tense. The government announced the dispatch of CRS companies.
It is worth dwelling on this unprecedented decision since the 1960s. Indeed, during social protests at the end of the 1960s, clashes between demonstrators and CRS officers resulted in deaths on the demonstrators' side (live ammunition). Since then, by tacit agreement with Martinique's political leaders, CRS companies have not appeared in Martinique.
Césaire is no longer there and we have Macron at the Elysée who, clearly, after New Caledonia, persists in the most irresponsible provocation. Failing to take the demands into consideration, it is the gunboat policy.
The economies of the DOM are "counter economies" that consume mainly imported products with little mobilization of local resources (moreover, it is easy to list the flagship products of Martinique production today: tourism, bananas and rum). Furthermore, the distribution of imported products is in the hands of large local fortunes (the "Békés" in Martinique, heirs of the large slave-owning landowners) who negotiate franchises with the major distribution brands.
In the words of Ericka Bareigts (Réunion, PS, a priori a moderate, therefore), questioned about the situation in Martinique on a public radio channel, the heart of the problem remains that the DOMs are still colonies in which economic power remains in a few hands. Also, the protest against the living conditions of the working classes should open the debate about these discreet monopolies (seen from Metropolitan France) which call the shots in the DOMs.
The "domian" political parties are currently in discussions with the government to change the status of local authorities for more administrative autonomy. A strange discrepancy between the immediate concerns of the people and those of their representatives.
The Communist Revolutionary Party supports the struggles of the people of Martinique and Guadeloupe to denounce the high cost of living. Without putting an end to the colonial situation imposed by the French State, there can be no favorable and lasting solution for the peoples of the Caribbean.
[1] Median income: income that divides the household population in two, half of which do not reach this level.