November 5 strike protests in Charente-Maritime, Digi Mart USA News (La Rochelle, France): More than 5,000 people took part in demonstrations on November 5 in the Charente-Maritime department of western France, according to the prefecture. At the height of the mobilization, more than 3,000 of them were in La Rochelle.
The General Confederation of Labour (CGT) put the number of protesters in La Rochelle at 8,000. Five other processions were counted in the department: 900 people in Saintes, 850 in Rochefort, 250 in Royan, and 80 in each of Saint-Jean-d’Angély and Jonzac.
No injuries were reported among protesters or police. Authorities described the day as calm across all the marches.
Outside the declared demonstrations, attempts were made on Thursday morning to block three high schools in La Rochelle: the Jean-Dautet, Léonce-Vieljeux and René-Josué Valin lycées. According to the prefecture, one person was arrested in La Rochelle in connection with one of these blockade attempts.
Following the demonstrations, several roads in La Rochelle reopened early in the afternoon, including the Boulevard Sautel.
The November 5 mobilization follows earlier protests against the high cost of living. The third day of that movement took place on Saturday, October 31, when several calls to demonstrate were issued across the two Charentes departments, and the marches proceeded calmly.
The prefecture of Charente-Maritime had also issued an order banning undeclared demonstrations in La Rochelle, Saintes, Royan and Rochefort, and a similar order was issued for the city center of Angoulême in Charente.
Earlier, on a Tuesday in late September, about 1,000 people marched in La Rochelle, or 2,000 across Charente-Maritime according to the prefecture, as high school students mobilized again with the support of several unions and student organizations to demand more resources. On Friday, October 2, students mobilized again across the two Charentes, with tensions reported outside the Léonce-Vieljeux high school in La Rochelle and the Marguerite-de-Valois high school in Angoulême, where a student was injured in the head by a mortar firing.
