The island of Martinique is in the Carribean sea where reggae, voodoo, rum & hurricanes come from. It is also an integral part of France and as such its map appears on Euro bank notes at the bottom in a little insert. Four months ago the people of Martinique and neighbouring Gaudelope paralysed their local economies with strike actions, civil unrest, general un-mellowness and all round anti-Sarkozy attitude. This was in no small part due to their extraordinarily high levels of unemployment compared to the rest of France. Today Sarkozy has started a tour of "overseas France" and has proposed a referendum on autonomy but not independence.
This is the second time in his career that Sarkozy will have backed a referendum on autonomy for an island part of the highly centralised French state, his 2003 Corsican measure proposed whilst he was still minister of the interior was narrowly defeated.
So far reaction to the Sarkozy proposals have been muted with the leftwing in mainland French media mostly concurring that he's being a bollox & just seeking a chance to pit people against each other for some wicked end or other which comes naturally to him as he actually is in league with satan.
Here is a French language blog from Martinique, in which a Martinican open letter to Sarkozy has just appeared. The concerns of the people of the French Indies go beyond unemployment through maniupalation of oil and fuel prices by the TOTAL oil co. & though it might seem hard to believe the riots of February actually saw local Martinican soldiers take on local gendarmerie as french cops are known when they're at hom which of course maybe they aren't.
http://www.chien-creole.blogspot.com/
This local news service actually has the temerity to report the visit of nice Mr Sarkozy, he who offers extra freedom, the trip of fear and wonders in a way which doesn't seem to trickle back to the centre of France, if the rule of law and human rights will be returned any day soon to the French Indies.
It appears they lost them. Aye - indeed - it might seem they have more in common with the periphery of Paris than they think.
All they need to do to stay in the news is wear burkas.
http://www.liberation.fr/politiques/0101576439-sarkozy-...nique
http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2009/06/26/sark...0229-[NL_Titresdujour]-20090626-[zonea]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martinique
The outermost regions of the EU not all of which get on your Euro note :-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outermost_regions