'Sarkozy discovers overseas'. Such was the headline of French Libération newspaper last Friday. The French president has finally responded to the uprising that has been affecting the Caribbean island for the last month. Guadeloupe is still a French colony with a status of "oversea department". Sarkozy has promised that France will invest an initial package of 580 million euros in such departments and revise down the price of fuel. According to BBC, the French government has also agreed to supplement with a 200 € monthly payment the wages of low-paid workers.

Since last January 20 an indefinite general strike called by Liyannaj Kont Pwofitasyon (LKP, 'Collective against Exploitation', in Creole language) has brought the island to a standstill. Strikers protest against Guadeloupe's high cost of living and the low wages paid to workers. The LKP movement is made up of several trade unions, cultural organizations and also political parties. Even though it was initially formed to denounce rising prices of petrol, its demands have gradually broaden to include several other issues. The population of the island has broadly supported the protests LKP has promoted, and so the strike has been total during the last four weeks.

Unrest hit fresh peak last week as a trade unionist was shot dead on Wednesday. The matter was covered by all French media headlines. Sarkozy then addressed Guadeloupe people in a sympathetic manner. "How can we justify the fact that prices in the overseas departements are higher than in the mainland but spending power is lower?" he asked. "How can we justify the monopolies, overly high profits and the exploitation?."

Citizens and organizations on strike which have come together under LKP have presented a 10-point demand, in which they call for taxes to be revised down, fuel and food prices to be lowered and lowest wages to be raised by 200 €.

LKP leaders have also stressed on the need to recognise Guadeloupe’s majority language and culture, which is that of Black and Creole people. Spokesman for LKP, Elie Demota, declared in an interview published in Le Figaro that at present “the island’s majority culture is not our culture, but that of white people instead”. Demota has also said that the collective he represents “is in favour of the right of peoples to dispose of themselves as they see fit, a right” –he adds– “that must be exercised without thinking, accepting the minorities in your land and asking them to respect your natural prerogatives as a majority people. But we Blacks, the island’s majority people, still live as in the time of slavery, under the same social structure and the same cultural and economic domination”

Sarkozy's reaction to the crisis shows there is much more to an economic emergency. The president of France stated in a speech before administrative representatives of oversea departments that "we have the duty to do everything in our power to solve the crisis: a social crisis, a structural crisis. Let's say it: an identity crisis and, therefore, a political crisis, too".

Talks between LKP and the French government will resume today. The strikers have deemed as "vague" the proposals announced yesterday by Sarkozy, but have said they are willing to negotiate. Such proposals will be also extended to the rest of French oversea departments -Reunion, French Guiana and Martinique- in order to avoid a domino effect. Last February 5 first demonstrations in solidarity with Guadeloupe were held in Martinique.

Further information:

• Le Figaro: Domota : «La grève a ouvert les yeux des Guadeloupéens»
• AFP: Guadeloupe: le LKP reprend les négociations sans appeller à la fin à la grève
• Coverage by RFO
• Blogs at Libération.fr: La Guadeloupe en colère
• MónDivers: Sarkozy admet que a Guadeloupe hi ha «discriminacions intolerables»