Shops ransacked as protests rock French Caribbean island of Martinique

FORT-DE-FRANCE — Looters ransacked shops overnight on the French Caribbean island of Martinique as violent protests against rising living costs showed little sign of abating despite the imposition of a curfew.

The Martinique local administration said two petrol stations had been ransacked and businesses inside a shopping centre were also vandalized and robbed.

French overseas territories such as Martinique, Guadeloupe and New Caledonia have often been hit by civil unrest due to complaints that living standards are well below those of mainland France.

By REUTERS

Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Angus MacSwan

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles

John McCarthy

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John F. McCarthy is a veteran journalist in the Caribbean, writing from the "Decision Space" where survival meets the surreal. His reporting steel was tempered by a lineage of legendary editors and broadcasters, including Ed Wynn Brant (The Bomb), Owen Eschenroder (Ann Arbor News), Lynelle Emanuel (BVI Beacon), and Charles Thanas (WSVI-TV). Alongside longtime colleague Kenneth C. "Casey" Clark, McCarthy has navigated the front lines of the territory’s history—from the 1997 volcanic "snow" to every major hurricane since Hugo. Known for leaning out of doorless helicopters to capture the "money shot," McCarthy now edits the V.I. Free Press, providing the essential link between the island's colonial past and its SpaceX future.