Solidarity with Guadeloupe

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Comment by Brian Ross Ashley on July 5, 2012 at 18:00

Elie Domota at the Comité international contre la répression, Paris, 13 June 2012

Comment by Joe Balkis on February 20, 2012 at 18:49

The U.S./Cuba Labor Exchange conferences in Tijuana, Mexico focus on
theses themes specifically related to workers. Please welcome Cuban
Ambassador Bolanos at this excellent and informative forum! For more
information on the Tijuana Conferences, bookmark:
laborexchange.blogspot.com

Forum on ALBA:

Latin America and the Continental Integration of the Peoples
The achievements of ALBA-TCP (alba-tcp.org) and the integration of
the continental social movements

Thursday, March *22* and Friday, March 23

5:00-8:00pm DePaul University

Schmitt Academic Center (SAC) Room *154**

*2320 N. Kenmore, Chicago

Thursday, March 22:

Conference on the Social Movements of the ALBA-TCP Nations
*Luther Castillo*, Spokesperson for the Honduran People’s Front
forNational Resistance; co-coordinator of Cuba’s Latin American
School of Medicine's international team of physicians working in Haiti
after the earthquake
Rummie Quintero, LGBT activist, Venezuela
José Aguilar, Free Software Movement, Venezuela
Amenothep Zambrano, Executive Secretary of ALBA-TCP
Jose Pertierra, represents Venezuelan government in the case to
extradite Luis Posada Carriles
*

Friday, March **23*:

Conference with Diplomats of the ALBA-TCP Nations
Francisco Campbell Hooker, Nicaragua Ambassador in Washington
Jorge Bolaños Suárez, Chief of the Cuban Interests Section in
Washington
*Angelo Rivero,* Presiding Officer of the Embassy of Venezuela in
Washington
*Freddy Bersatti Tudela*, Presiding Officer of the Embassy of the
Plurinational State of Bolivia in Washington
*Amenothep Zambrano,* Executive Secretary of ALBA-TCP

Organized by: DePaul University, General Consulate of Venezuela in
Chicago,
Chicago Committee to Free the Cuban 5, La Voz de los de Abajo.

For more information: Jesús Rodríguez Espinoza
a href="http://us.mc1123.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=ven.chicago@gmail.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ven.chicago@gmail.com <mailto:ven.chicago@gmail.com>
>; Stan Smith, uscubachi@yahoo.com <mailto:uscubachi@yahoo.com>
, 773-376-7521

* *

What is ALBA?

The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America - Trade
Treaty of the People (ALBA-TCP) presently consists of Venezuela, Cuba,
Bolivia, Ecuador, Dominica, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Antigua and
Barbuda, and Nicaragua.

“ALBA’s fight is for a second true independence for Latin
America and Caribbean; to free ourselves from poverty and illiteracy
and achieve development for our people,” explains Amenothep
Zambrano, Executive Secretary of ALBA.
ALBA is a trade agreement that mutually benefits all parties based
on the strengths and weaknesses of each of the members. It builds
Latin American unity and solidarity through mutual economic
development, fair trade, joint development projects and South-South
coordination. This is a radical break neo-colonial history based upon
imperial exploitation, the fiction of a free market, and domination by
the United States.

Why was ALBA created?

ALBA was created as a direct response to the attempt by the United
States to impose the Free Trade Area of the Americas treaty on the
entire region of Latin America and the Caribbean. Implementation of
the FTAA would have imposed intensified neo-liberal economic policies,
increasing crushing levels of poverty, unemployment and
foreign-imposed debt.

Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro formally created ALBA on Dec. 14,
2004, at the celebration of the 180th anniversary of the victory of
Ayacucho, the day Simón Bolívar’s army won independence from Spain
The need for alliances such as ALBA is demonstrated by the more than
50-year-long war waged by the United States against Cuba, the 2002
failed U.S.-coup attempt against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the
2009 U.S. coup against the democratically-elected pro-ALBA president
of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, the 7 new U.S. military bases in Colombia,
and the failed U.S. coups in Bolivia and Ecuador.ALBA countries have
recently condemned foreign intervention in Libya and Syria, and have
recently strengthened their ties with Iran.

What Has ALBA Accomplished?

ALBA initiatives include: the ALBA Bank, funding the different
development projects in their countries, working towards independence
from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other
exploiting global institutions; the creation of 12 public companies to
strengthen national economies in agriculture, infrastructure,
telecommunications, industrial supplies and cement production;
PetroCaribe, which greatly increases access to energy resources; and a
diverse array of health and education programs.

ALBA’s social achievements include the elimination of poverty for
11 million people in only five years, through free universal
education, food programs, and health programs. Unemployment has
dropped to 8.7%, lower than in the U.S. Literacy rates have risen from
84% to 96%; now Bolivia and Nicaragua join Cuba and Venezuela in being
free of illiteracy. Infant mortality rates have been reduced by 32%;
life expectancy increased to 73 years. 1,899.808 people have had their
vision restored or improved through Mision Milagro. 2,294,666
handicapped persons have received health care service for their
problems. Hundreds of their countries students are enrolled in
ALBA’s Latin American School of Medicine to develop still more
critically-needed medical workers.

The leading official of the Venezuela Embassy recently noted that
U.S. media routinely demonizes ALBA and its programs as threats to its
own system. He disputed that, saying that ALBA and its programs are
“not threats but opportunities taken by Latin American and Caribbean
countries to develop their own people with their own resources….We
have changed and we aren’t going back. If U.S. representatives
understand this, we will be able to go forward, if not, we will defend
what we have created!”

Comment by Brian Ross Ashley on August 13, 2011 at 1:54

ILC Statement on Verdict in Trial of 3 UGTG Unionists

The International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples (ILC) has just received the communiqué of the General Union of Guadeloupan Workers (UGTG) dated August 9, 2011, regarding the verdict in the trial of three UGTG activists: Gabriel Bourguignon, Freddy Louise and Michel Madasamy

The International Liaison Committee is pleased to note that the workers' and democratic rights' mobilizations in Guadeloupe and internationally compelled the authorities to drop the charges against Gabriel Bourgignon and Freddy Louise.

It considers it a miscarriage of justice, however, that Michel Madasamy was sentenced to a three-month suspended prison sentence. The sentence issued by the court in Pointe-à-Pitre on August 9, 2011, violates the most elementary rules of justice.

The International Liaison Committee supports the UGTG in affirming that:

"It took years of discovery to come to the realization that there was never any attempted arson, nor were the lives of others endangered. and nor was there any rebellion against the police. Yet our comrades were beaten, abused and portrayed as criminals, as terrorists. This verdict confirms that this was a premeditated case by the authorities to demonize and criminalize the UGTG for its union activities."

This verdict against Michel Madassamy is nothing but sheer revenge against a recognized and respected union militant. There is simply no basis for any prison sentence whatsoever; the charge that he allegedly injured 16 armed policemen -- a charge that even the police do not support -- is groundless and without merit.

The International Liaison Committee believes that the charges dropped against two unionists of the UGTG represents a first successful step in the struggle, and insists, yet again, that all charges against Michel Madassamy and other UGTG unionists must be dropped immediately and that the authorities must put an end to their acts of repression against the UGTG.

-- International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples (ILC)

(August 11, 2011)

Comment by Brian Ross Ashley on October 25, 2010 at 23:24

To the French Democratic Labour Movement
To the World Democratic Labour Movement
To the International Committee against Repression (Cicr)
Pointe-à-Pitre
6 October 2010
Dear Comrades, Dear Friends,
The French Court of Justice has just decided, once again, to do battle against the Guadaloupe labour movement and particularly against
the activists of our UGTG Central (the Union générale des travailleurs de Guadeloupe).

After having sentenced our comrade, Raymond Gauthierot (the former secretary general of the UGTG) last January, to 3 months of prison and fines, the French administration and its local lackeys are now going fiercely at the leaders and activists of our trade union – at the request of the Guadalupe owners and bosses, along with the complicity of the local authorities.

Thus for several weeks, if not several months, we have been seeing a series of summons and trials, challenging fundamental liberties and especially the right to express demands and to fight for fair and legitimate demands. Everything has been done not only to vilify union action but also and especially to try to silence us, as we fight unceasingly, particularly for the respect of the agreements of the 26th of February and the 4th of March, hard won thanks to the LKP.

An example:
On Tuesday, the 14th of September, a union delegate from the UGTG was convoked before the Basse-Terre Cout of Appeal.
At the beginning of the hearing, the presiding judge addressed the courtroom, saying “You are here in numbers, but you don’t scare me”.
It is true that the trials of UGTG members are not usually open to the public, because the gates to the court are systematically guarded
by the police, who forbid entry to the law courts.
Several minutes later, the presiding judge questioned our comrade and she answered in Creole, as she had done at her first hearing in Pointe-à-Pitre, where she had been assigned an interpreter.
At that moment, the Court of Appeal judge, speaking with severe arrogance and even distain for the young woman, forbade her to answer in Creole, declaring that the court’s decisions were made in French and that in his court, French was the spoken language and that in any case, she would be judged and sentenced.
This decision to forbid speaking in Creole is even more incomprehensible given that our comrade stood accused of a having made an insult that she had proffered … in Creole.
This obvious lack of impartiality provoked an indignant reaction from the audience.
There then followed several groans from the room, which were enough for the judge to demand the evacuation of the courtroom, which was accomplished by armed police and gendarmes, in shocking conditions.
It should also be noted that the accused was also conducted out of the courtroom.
Several moments later, we learned that our comrade's lawyer had fainted, which necessitated calling in paramedics.
And yet, curiously, the decision will be announced on November 8, 2010, even though neither our comrade nor her lawyer will have been able to defend the case.
Friday, October 22, 2010, two other leaders of the UGTG, one of whom the deputy secretary general, will be tried for having refused to submit to DNA sampling. Union activists are not criminals. In all, four leaders of the UGTG have been tried for having refused to give their DNA.
A total of 20 activists and leaders of our Union central have been convoked before the courts by the police and the gendarmerie, in the space of several days before the large Kont Tout Pwofitasyon (Against All Exploitation) mobilisation of October 26 in Guadalupe, Martinique and Guyana. All this has happened in the complete silence of the political class, while the conflict has been going on for more than 7 months.
Meanwhile, one of the UGTG lawyers, Sarah Aristide, has been threatened, intimidated and aggressed several times, without the least intervention by the public prosecutor, in spite of numerous complaints and arrests

Dear Comrades, Dear Friends: you understand; the French colonial state, in the pay of the owners and the bosses, is taking its revenge on the fabulous struggle that we have been leading in Guadaloupe. They are attempting to eliminate the LKP by directly attacking the organisations that make it up.
Dear Comrades, Dear Friends: in the name of international labour solidarity, in the name of democracy, in the name of the workers of Guadaloupe fighting for their legitimate demands for their trade unions, and for the defence of their trade unions, we call on your support!
With our militant and fraternal salutations,
The General Secretary,
Elie DOMOTA

Comment by Andynorthstarwa on October 5, 2010 at 15:23

Long live the LKP "collective against exploitation"The LKP is shinning example of the united front and just what can be achieved if the working class unite. One hope's the example's of the peoples of Guadeloupe and Martinique are translated into similar actions all across Francs and indeed Europe. Where the Capitan's of industry and there governments and media mates are crying the need for austerity measures to lift the capitalist out of there financial crises, at the expense of the working class of Europe and indeed the world.Let's hope for the internationalist charterer of the working class to shine through, and for mass demonstrations of international solidarity with the peoples of Guadeloupe and Martinique in there struggle to beat back the colonial system the Sarkozy and his imperialist backer.s. Long live the February five collective.

Comment by Brian Ross Ashley on September 15, 2010 at 20:04

More attempted repression in Guadeloupe
GUADELOUPE
UGTG ISSUE CALL TO THE DEMOCRATIC AND
WORKERS' MOVEMENT INTERNATIONALLY

Dear comrades, dear friends,
Again the French State, with the complicity of key elected officials from Guadeloupe, has used its repressive apparatus against the youth, workers, and people of Guadeloupe.

Failing to push back the movement underway for five months against pwofitasyon -- the mass movement led by Guadeloupan organizations, especially the trade unions -- the French State has now decided to use its judicial repressive apparatus toward this same goal. It is important to remember that this movement led to the signing of the Bino Agreement on February 26, 2009 -- an agreement that won a 200-euro increase in the monthly minimum wage -- and of a Memorandum of Understanding on March 4, 2009, which lifted the general strike that began on January 20.

Now, as a backlash, we are witnessing a series of criminal investigations and trials against leaders of this movement, particularly against leaders of the UGTG trade union federation:

- March 8: opening of a judicial inquiry against Elie Domota, Secretary General of the UGTG and spokesperson of the LKP coalition;
- May 15: Trial against youth from Gourbeyre;
- May 19: For having denounced the illegal wiretapping against them, Sarah Masters and Patrice Aristide Tacit were summoned to the court of Pointe à Pitre by a judge of the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Paris; the Attorney General of the Lower Court requested the removal of the case by the magistrate court of Pointe à Pitre;
- May 20: Summons to the judicial authorities issued for Michel Madassamy and Gabriel Bourguinion, leaders of the UGTG; note that Aristide and P. Tacita are their lawyers;
- May 26: Trial of Raymond Gautherot, former Secretary General of the UGTG; sentenced to three months in prison.
- May 29: Trial of Jocelyn Leborgne, member of the Union Council of UGTG; on 4 June 2009: Trial of Comrade Max Delourneau for his participation in the mobilizations of the LKP.
- June 9, 2009: Trial of Brother Christopher, a member of Union Council of the UGTG.

Why this pattern of repression against the workers, youth, people of Guadeloupe?
Because the workers, with their unions, are refusing to capitulate to the attacks that are coming down from all sides: they have continued to organized strikes and mass demonstrations of striking employees to enforce the Bino agreement -- against threats of all sorts and the blackmail of layoffs.

Because on May 1, 2009 there were more than 30,000 demonstrators in Petit Canal. Because the LKP continues to make gains in the negotiations on the platform of 146 points that are ongoing with the support of the population. Because thousands of youth, unemployed, workers, retirees, continue to participate in meetings in the municipalities in response to the call of LKP.

Dear colleagues, dear friends,
It is thanks to the determination of the workers and people of Guadeloupe, through the general strike of 44 days and the mobilization of the entire population, including a mass protest with 100,000 demonstrators, that we were able to obtain satisfaction of our demands. It is also thanks to your international solidarity.

On behalf of the rights of the workers and people of Guadeloupe to fight for their legitimate demands and against repression, we again call for your international solidarity.

signed/
Elie Domota
Secretary General
General Union of Workers of Guadeloupe (UGTG)

Messages of protest should be sent to:
Prefect of Guadeloupe
Lardenoy Street, 97100 Basse-Terre.
Fax: International: 00 335 90 81 58 32. Or: 00 590 590 8158 32
from France: 05 90 81 58 32.
Yves Jego, Secretary of State for Overseas Department
27, rue Oudinot, 75007 Paris
Fax: International: 00 331 53 69 28 04. France: 01 53 69 28 04.

Tribunal de Grande Instance de Pointe à Pitre Guadeloupe
Fax - International: 00 33 590 8361 04 or: 00 590 590 8361 O4
of France: 0590 836104

Tribunal de Grande Instance de Basse-Terre Guadeloupe
Fax: International: 00 33 590 8063 61 or: 00 590 590 8063 61
from France 05 90 806361
Please send copies to:
UGTG, rue Paul-Lacavé, 97110 Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe.
Fax: International: 00 335 90 89 08 70. Or: 00 590 89 08 70
from France 05 90 806361
website: http www.ugt.org
e-mail: ugtg@wanadoo.fr

-----

- Also, please send copies of your letters of protest to
International Liaison Committee

Comment by Brian Ross Ashley on September 15, 2010 at 20:02

The government is preparing to amputate the agreement signed after 44 days of general strike
On behalf of the LKP, Elie Domota denounced the attempted coup.

* The government is preparing to announce a "limited extension" of the wage agreement reach in Guadeloupe.
* The edited agreement would cut the preamble characterizing the economy of Guadeloupe as a "plantation economy" and would cut Article 5 charging employers with the ¤ 200 increase in wages "by the end of the period of state aid (36 months) and local aid(12 months).
* "This would result in many more strikes in Guadeloupe," replied Elie Domota , the leader of the collective LKP.

At a meeting of the LKP, on Thursday April 2, Elie Domota denounced in advance this attempt by the government to challenge the agreement after 44 days of general strike. We copy here a large excerpt of his speech:

"More than 45,000 employees in Guadeloupe currently have benefited from the agreement signed last February 26 after 44 days of united general strike. And this is in all sectors: private clinics, private security, hotel, retail, banks, real estate ... as well including companies that are part of Medef. They signed because they were clearly told that if they did not sign, the workers would remain on strike at their companies (...).

Tomorrow, Friday April 3, 2009, they meet again for an extension of the Bino agreement. We do not support their extension! It is Medef that is dictating to the state its policy and decides what the government will decide! They want the extension to begin by removing the preamble, because they do not want to read or hear the truth. And they also want to remove Article 5 on the so-called convertibility, so that in one year we would lose 50 euros and 200 euros in three years! That is what they would like through an extension ...

This means that tomorrow whatever decision they take, we must strike wherever they do not implement the Bino agreement! The pharmacists' society has decided not to enforce the agreement. As a result, nearly 200 employees of pharmacies are preparing for their strike next week!

(...) We demand one thing: full implementation of the Bino agreement... without removing anything. That is the position we should all adopt.

It is in this context that they come to us speaking about the Estates General! So comrades, enjoy May 1 to show them what we think ... Ansanm nou ka Lite! Ansanm nou ké gannyé! (Together we fought! Together we will win!).

Comment by Brian Ross Ashley on September 15, 2010 at 20:00

GUADELOUPE The LKP will not participate in the Overseas Estates General (Press Release)
What the hell kind of "Estates General" is this?

* The Overseas Estates General decided on by Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris will last from April 15 until May 15, announced prefect Richard Samuel, chief representative to overseas.
* More work will be continued in Paris, during the week of June 8, and a synthesis will be held at the national level in last week of June
* The LKP, which includes 49 organizations and activists who were behind the general strike in Guadeloupe, has indicated that it will not participate.

It was the historic general strike and the popular movement in December, January, February and March 2009 that led the state to organize the so-called "Estates General" in Guadeloupe, with the ulterior motive to break the LKP dynamic.

The LKP said: Pon (no), an "Estates General" cannot be dictated to the people of Guadeloupe.

It is:
- From Paris that Mr. Sarkozy has launched his Estates General.
- From Paris that Mr. Sarkozy has appointed its central coordinator.
- From Paris that Mr. Sarkozy has appointed its personalities references.
- From Paris that Mr. Sarkozy established the modus operandi of the meeting, including details (workshops, topics, shop supervisors, Calendar, etc.)..
- From Paris ... or rather ... in Paris that will summarize these discussions!

The LKP refuses to be the social, economic, political and cultural relay of Mr. Sarkozy in Guadeloupe. Yo ja desidera biten a yo (They have already decided their fates).
We declare that the real Estates General of the people of Guadeloupe began on December 5, 2008 ; the platform claims 146 points and ten themes on the situation, the diagnosis of our society in under-development, characterized by inequalities based on pwofitasyon (exploitation) that has lasted more than four hundred years.

Following the social gains won by more than 44 days of mass mobilization in the streets, a great hope for change has arisen among workers and the people of Guadeloupe.

The LKP aims with the people to move to new economic and social relations, to move from a plantation economy of import-distribution to a production economy turned primarily towards meeting the needs of the people of Guadeloupe.

A Guadeloupe with women and men capable of inventing a new society.

Also, we must move towards food self-sufficiency, work towards full employment, ensure fair taxation, protect our environment, promote a system of education and training that meets the needs of youth, its vitality, and continue to affirm our cultural identity.

We must promote a genuine democratic expression of all Guadeloupeans, respecting the right of the people of Guadeloupe to give the form and timing of the emancipation it wants.

Only the continuation of the mass struggles led by the conscious and organized working class based on a program born of its own needs, aspirations and demands, will meet the expectations of the people.

This struggle cannot be completed successfully without the participation of all youth and the people. The LKP lies firmly within this logic.

Annou sanblé (Let us gather) for our own demands and aspirations.

La Gwadloup sé tannou ! La Gwadloup sépa ta yo ! Yo péké fè sa yo vlé an péyi an nou (Guadeloupe is ours, not theirs ! They can't do whatever they want with our country !)
Manten (Lamentin)

Comment by Brian Ross Ashley on September 15, 2010 at 19:56

"Liyannaj changed something in Guadeloupe"
Press conference of Liyannaj kont pwofitasyon (LKP) in Paris on March 24
A delegation of the LKP (Liyannaj kont pwofitasyon) from Guadeloupe held a press conference on Tuesday, March 24 in Paris.

The three delegates, Raymond Gama, of the NONM, Max Evariste, general secretary of the CGT-FO in Guadeloupe, and Victor Fabert, of Travay é Peyizan, explained the formation of LKP and its role in the strike.
Opening the press conference on behalf of the delegation, Raymond Gama was "shocked that just after the general strike ended in Guadeloupe, with the successful outcome that we all have seen, and the prosecutor in Guadeloupe began to open an investigation against the chief spokesman of this movement, Elie Domota. He rejected the charge of racism brought against the leader of the LKP.

To the contrary, he showed how racism "linked to slavery" was established in Guadeloupe. "History made us into slaves, into blacks", he said.

Racism permeates to this day all social classes in Guadeloupe and Martinique: "The blacks, mestizos are the majority, but all those who occupy managerial positions, in economic as in political terms, are white ."

"It's a fact," he stressed, recalling that there is still "housing reserved for continentals and Europeans," which have banned blacks.

The strike, he said, was not only a strike for the social demands, but also a strike to affirm the desire to finally end this situation. "Freedom," he concluded, "is for all men and women, whatever be the color of their skin."

Max Evariste insisted, however, that the agreement must be respected. It is the responsibility of government. He reported that although Medef refused to sign this agreement "over 80 agreements were signed by the owners for some 2,000 companies and over 20,000 employees. Initially, small businesses had given their agreement. But now, even in large groups Medef who dragged their feet are starting to sign too."

Regarding the controversy sparked by Medef concerning the preamble of the Agreement (see ILC Newsletter 238), Max Evariste recalled that "the preamble to the agreement in its entirety, was negotiated and drafted with the Prefect and representatives of government, so there is no reason for controversy."

Robert Fabert explained the origin, role and modus operandi of the LKP. To understand what happened, he says, one must go back to last December when a first strike was organized "a warning shot that nobody wanted to hear, and the meeting of representatives of organizations with unions, on December 5, was followed by a series of unity meetings which took the time to discuss the various points of view and gradually built up a platform around which the general strike was organized."

Democracy, respect for the mandate, have been throughout the strike the mark of the LKP.

"The daily meetings at the Palais de la Mutualité gathered thousands of workers, who were the guarantors of unity, beyond the differences. Diverse, but united: this was the will of all. In addition to these daily meetings, demonstrations were attended by 60,000 to 100,000 people.

The platform focused on all vital issues for the working population and young people: jobs, wages (200 euros, etc.), standard of living, education, vocational training, fisheries, agriculture, trade union rights, health, culture.

The strike is over. An agreement was signed.

But Liyannaj is still there. The workers, youth, and people are committed to demanding the respect of all the points of the agreement that was signed.

"Liyannaj changed something in Guadeloupe. Nothing will ever be the same, " Robert Fabert concluded.

Comment by Brian Ross Ashley on September 15, 2010 at 19:53

Travay é peyizan TO THE WORKERS, YOUTH AND PEOPLE OF GUADELOUPE:
Since January 20 our country has undergone an unprecedented upheaval that everyone describes as an historic movement.
In response to the call of 49 organizations -- unions, political, cultural associations, consumer protection groups, and organizations representing environmental activists, workers, youth, persons with disabilities, retirees, artists and creators, farmers and peasants, fishermen, artisans and small businesses - the people burst onto the political scene, showing that Guadeloupe is ours.

After watching the first 3 days of negotiations on radio and television, they understood the game quickly. They witnessed the irresponsibility and disregard of the employers, elected officials and the representative of the French government. They saw immediately the reality of the profiteer's camp, the camp pwofitasyon, the camp of the criminals, Kan Yo.

Faced with this situation, in response the call of the collective Liannaj Kont Pwofitayon, which they recognized as their leadership in the struggle, they demonstrated by the tens of thousands: 25,000 then 40,000, and then 100,000 the week of February 16 to 20. They rose up against the aggression by the thousands of mobile police and special troops deployed in Guadeloupe by the French government, with the complicity of certain elected officials.

They organized to address and demand immediate solutions to the dire situation: the shortages of certain commodities, gasoline. The population kept up production, at the request of the LKP and under its control, to feed and sustain the population during the strike.

Promoting new social relationships

Today, the mobilization continues, though the general strike has been suspended. The mobilization forced the French government and local officials to sign, on February 26, an agreement increasing the minimum wage by 200 euros.
The mobilization went on to impose the signing of a general memorandum of agreement, on March 4.

The goal is to promote new social relations, which is expressed in the preamble to the Jacques BINO agreement:
"Considering that the economic and social conditions existing in Guadeloupe follow the model of the plantation economy. Considering that this economy is based on the abuse of dominant positions, which generates injustice. Considering that these injustices affect both the workers and internal economic growth. ...

Considering the need to break down these barriers by creating a new economic order, calling for an adjustment of the appreciation of the work of each (owners and employees) and promoting new social relationships ..."

Nothing will be like before

Everyone acknowledges that nothing will be like before, nothing can be like before.
This feeling, this liyannaj, finds its origin in the struggle that workers in Guadeloupe with the support of the population have been driven to take to maintain the independence of trade unions, to resist the anti-union repression, the racial discrimination, the lay-offs ....

This resistance was manifested in particular by:

- The struggle for the independence of the working class, the unions in particular, against the social dialogue of compromise, against class collaboration through the social forums;

- The struggle for respect for May 27, symbolized by the struggle for the release of Michel Madasssamy in late May and early June 2001;

- The long and difficult conflicts such as the struggle at Destrelland Carrefour, Danone, where workers and their organizations are still faced with the contempt békés patterns supported by the colonial power which did not hesitate to systematically use the dozens of the police and mobile gendarmes at their disposal.

- The struggle of the former employees of the Farm Campeche to preserve their livelihoods and the preservation of farmland in Guadeloupe.

- The fight for the Free Union of Free Peoples of the Caribbean driven by the Association of Workers and Peoples of the Caribbean, ATPC, created in December 2002 in Guadeloupe, in particular through the struggle for the sovereignty of the people of Haiti (In Defending Haiti We Defend Ourselves)

- The revolution in South America, Bolivia, Venezuela, Ecuador, ....

LKP: PLIS KI LIYANNAJ, ON LESPWI

This has been expressed today in the mobilization that we've seen for two months and through the unity of these 49 organizations, through this communion between people and the LKP.

This imposes a responsibility on the elected officials:

"We are not heard in Parliament. ... The movement initiated by LKP has managed to achieve what parliamentarians in vain have tried to ask of the French Government, in particular in relation to the greater control over fuel prices ..." These were the words of MP and Chairman of the Region Victorin Lurel, at a signing of Memorandum of Agreement to suspend the general strike on March 4, 2009, as quoted by the newspaper France Antilles, March 6, 2009.

In recent weeks, ever since the President of the French State raised on February 19, the idea of the Estates General initially launched by the Presidents of the General and Regional Councils of Guadeloupe, we have witnessed a political offensive on this point from the Minister of Colonies, the prefect, and also certain political organizations.

All of them spend their time scorning the workers and youth. They demonstrate their inability to solve the problems facing the masses, then they support the colonial institutions based on racial discrimination over the past 400 years, and now suddenly they want to concoct a "future" through their Estates General, their congress, their consultations, -- that is, through the French colonial institutions.

And they continue to do everything like before.

Do they not understand the message? Do they have short memories? What right do they have to do this? Who has given them a mandate for that?

But how can they do otherwise, they are subordinated to the colonial institutions.

It is the RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE of Guadeloupe to decide their own future!
The militants of Travay é Peyizan argue that what has been happening since January 20 is a genuine movement of class struggle. The platform of demands developed by the LKP collective with the masses expresses the will of the people of Guadeloupe to end social oppression and national oppression.
It is up to the people to define the shape, pace and time of any change! And we reiterate that only we the people of Guadeloupe can say what we want, through institutions created by us and for us.

The movement that began on January 20 shows that the people and workers need to have elected representatives at their service, elected officials accountable to them, that they can monitor and revoke at any time. Activists of Travay é Peyizan believe that only a National Constituent Assembly can meet this need. And they believe that to carry out the fight for the Constituent Assembly it is necessary to have a tool that works for this: an organization, a party, a front, ...

These militants are raising the perspective of building an independent workers party, independent of the institutions, a party that struggles for the independence of the working class and for the unity of the peoples of the region -- for the Free Union of Free Peoples of the Caribbean. ....

They submit this proposal for discussion.
(Abymes, Guadeloupe -- March 23, 2009)