Tense atmosphere in Guadeloupe. Clashes broke out this Thursday between demonstrators against the health pass and the vaccine obligation and the police, responding to the call of the collective of organizations of struggle, in general strike since November 15. The leader of the LKP collective Elie Domota was arrested and placed in police custody, we learned from the Pointe-à-Pitre prosecutor’s office.
/ 4 Face to face tense between demonstrators and the police: tear gas to disperse the Collective marching on the main axis of the Abymes #Guadeloupe #Vaccine obligation #PassVaccinal #Omicron #Covid pic.twitter.com/FPepS5zC1w
– Cécile Loïal (@CecileLoial) December 30, 2021
The trade unionist, leader of the 2009 demonstrations, and member of the “collective of organizations in struggle” was “arrested” and “taken into custody” at the beginning of the afternoon for “willful violence in a meeting on a person responsible for the ‘public authority’, indicated Patrick Desjardins, public prosecutor of Pointe-à-Pitre.
“The arrest of Elie Domota is a provocation”.
On the images of local television Canal 10, Elie Domota first appears advancing on a road with other demonstrators having seized barriers, while the police, with tear gas bombs , try to stop their advance on the roundabout of Petit Pérou in Abymes. Not far away is one of the island’s main shopping centers. In the following images, demonstrators force their way and Elie Domota appears on the ground, the gendarmes handcuffing him behind his back.
In a press release, the UGTG union (General Union of Workers of Guadeloupe) considered that “the arrest of Elie Domota is a provocation”. This arrest comes as tension remains high in this French overseas department, shaken by a social crisis since early November, with first and foremost the vaccination obligation.
Just before Christmas, anti-health pass demonstrators had occupied the Guadeloupe Regional Council. In the aftermath of this action, the French government ruled out any negotiation aimed at “repealing a law of the Republic”, in this case that requiring health personnel and firefighters to be vaccinated in order to work.
A postponement of the entry into force of the vaccination pass
On Wednesday, the Minister of Health Olivier Véran was however in favor of an amendment tabled by the deputy Justine Bénin – and adopted in committee at the National Assembly – asking for the postponement of the date of entry into force of the future vaccination pass in overseas territories. “We do not want to reignite a social conflict” in the West Indies, justified the minister.
Guadeloupe, where resistance to vaccination is strong, is facing a resurgence of the epidemic. The number of new cases of Covid has almost tripled in one week and continues to progress in a “worrying” manner, the ARS and the prefecture announced on Wednesday.