Britons flee French island of Guadeloupe as rioters turn on white families

[antimatter98]

Source: Daily Mail (UK)

Britons are among thousands of tourists fleeing Guadeloupe after full scale urban warfare erupted on the French Caribbean island.

Trouble broke out on the island earlier last month after protesters began rioting over high prices and low wages.

But the situation escalated this week after protesters began turning on rich white families as they demanded an end to colonial control of the economy.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1150062/Britons-flee-French-island-Guadeloupe-rioters-turn-white-families.html

[CTyankee]

1. My hubby and I spent our honeymoon there at Club Med in 1986.

I was saddened to see how poor everyone was there.

Club Med was a bit of an enclave, however. I wonder how they're doing...

How, I wonder, can people go without justice and economic justice? Dear god, the chickens have really come home to roost, haven't they? Sad that it took so long...

[whoneedstickets]

14. Stopped there on a Cruise in the mid-80s too....

..compared to the Virgin Islands, Barbados or even Puerto Rico that island was starkly poverty stricken. Given that the other key French colonial possession in the region was Haiti it sends a signal about French colonialism.

[CTyankee]

15. We chose this particular Club Med because it was the "most French" of all of the Clubs Med.

Planes went in and out of the island daily from Paris. The chef was from Provencal. We had marvelous food and wine but mostly we were in our own private compound. It wasn't that expensive compared to other types of trips such as cruises...

[Sarah Ibarruri]

2. Wow things are getting rough everywhere - can't say I blame the folks there for being angry nt

[HooptieWagon]

3. If the rioters kill the tourism industry

they'll pretty much be reduced to subsidence fishing and farming. While I sympathize with their situation, they likely have over-played their hand.

[XemaSab]

4. There's something disgusting

about rich Americans partying in a region of such poverty.

Anything that helps the local people build an economy outside tourism can't be bad.

[superconnected]

9. I really don't think people burning down their own neighborhood is ever a good idea.

This is not going to help their economy. Voting out the people selling them out will.

[cobalt1999]

12. Without tourist dollars, the island will support about 1/10 of the people on it.

What economy are you proposing they build on a small island outside of tourism?

Maybe if the population decrease to what the island could naturally support, they could turn to farming and fishing and sell whatever extra they produce, but the island can't support the existing human population levels without massive imports of food.

[Lost in CT]

18. I've been saying the same thing for years about Haiti. Unfortunately immediate humanitarian concerns

tends to trump both the environment and long term stability.

[HooptieWagon]

16. I suppose they could return to the sugarcane plantation days

That worked out so well...

Really, "disgusting" or not, tourism is their best option. The island cannot support it's population through agriculture, let alone produce enough for export. Piracy and smuggling aren't viable options. Any major manufacturing or refinery operations are gonna spoil the enviroment, will pay no better than tourism jobs, and export the profits. Guadalupe without tourism can look to Haiti to see their future. In comparison, tourism looks pretty good, doesn't it?

[Lost in CT]

17. So Americans shouldn't travel overseas??

You think Americans should avoid the third world and Southern Europe?

And this would help impoverished people how?

[Chulanowa]

5. "White" families?

Why not call them what they are, and the reason behind the rioting - rich families.

Oh right, we want to talk about angry black people, not angry poor people.

[Turborama]

11. Actually, according to the rest of the story, there have been "racial tensions" on that island for

"decades". Seems like a deep seated colonial legacy is catching up with France.

Guadeloupe's socialist opposition leader Malikh Boutih said: 'It is shocking to watch a police force which is almost 100 per cent white confront a population which is 100 per cent black. All the same elements of the riots on mainland France in 2005 are present here. We don't have the same concrete buildings, there are palm trees instead, but it's the same dead-end, the same "no future" for young people, with joblessness and a feeling of isolation.'

The first protests began a month ago when the left-wing union coalition, the Collective Against Exploitation, demanded a £180 a month pay increase for low-wage earners.

President Nicolas Sarkozy sent his minster for overseas departments to the island to meet with union leaders on response to the demands.

But the racial tensions which have been simmering for decades exploded into full-scale rioting, with colonial descendants who own 90 per cent of the wealth becoming the focus of the violence.

The unrest was further aggravated last week when wealthy white landowner Alain Huyghues-Despointes publicly criticised mixed-race marriages and said he preferred to 'preserve his race'.

[PFunk]

6. If our finiancal situation deepens any further then this could be a future US

Only it will be the poor of ALL races turning on the rich.

[Mr. Hyde]

7. uh oh, sounds like trouble in paradise.

[excess_3]

8. tourists bring mcjobs

eat the tourists

[Turborama]

10. Not everywhere

http://www.cha-cast.com/GGproperties.html

http://www.responsible-travel.org/

http://www.responsibletravel.com/

[cobalt1999]

13. Florida was built on tourists

It's still is a major component of the economy here. There are plenty of non-mcjobs in a tourist based economy.

[Lost in CT]

19. They are on a Caribbean island... what other industry would you recommend? nt

[Mari333]

20. I think we will see this more and more

I often wonder how those expat americans are doing now in Mexico..the retirees who thought Mexico was such a great place to live. I refuse to visit poor countries where I am securely fastened to a resort like a gated community, and around the resort is abject poverty.