Читать книгу The Restless - Gerty Dambury - Страница 6

Prologue

We are in Guadeloupe, an overseas department of France. It is 1967.

After the failure of preliminary talks between management and the construction workers’ union, work stoppages begin erupting throughout Pointe-à-Pitre on May 24, 1967. Serious negotiations commence at the Chamber of Commerce. On May 26, the discussions fall apart again because of the obstinate refusal of one group of owners to raise wages even though certain managers have proclaimed their willingness to cede to the workers’ demands. A crowd gathers in front of the building where the negotiations are taking place, and the situation degenerates quickly. Pierre Bolotte, the French-appointed governing prefect of Guadeloupe, orders the police to fire on the demonstrators, and around three in the afternoon, the first shots ring out on La Place de la Victoire. The barely repressed anger turns into violent confrontations at the city’s center. Extra troops of “red kepis” are dispatched to Guadeloupe, and these French soldiers crisscross the city all throughout the night, shooting and arresting people without warning or warrant.

The exact number of people killed remained in question until 2016, when the documents concerning this event were finally declassified and a new report was published. The original count was five dead. Somewhat later, the unofficial statistic, the one released by the authorities, rose to eighty-seven. With the release of the documents, we now estimate that over one hundred people were seriously wounded or killed.