Guadeloupe Rocked by Rioting Over Jailed Militant

Police put down a prison uprising, but looting spread on Friday and protesters’ barricades kept this French Caribbean commercial center virtually cut off from the rest of the Caribbean island.

It was the fourth day of protests in support of Georges Faisans, a militant independence advocate jailed in Paris. He reportedly has been on a hunger strike since June 3.

Faisans, a black teacher born in Guadeloupe, is serving a three-year sentence for hitting another teacher with a machete after the teacher allegedly insulted a young black.

About 200 police arrived from the nearby French island of Martinique, with additional reinforcements sent from France.

Police quelled an uprising overnight at a prison in this center, a police officer said. The officer, who insisted upon anonymity, declined to give details, but said that “the situation is under control” and no one was hurt.

A jailbreak at another island prison nearly two months ago freed 10 independence militants, including Luc Rennette, a leader of the Popular Movement for an Independent Guadeloupe.

The Movement is one of two independence groups that have combined forces for this week’s protests. The other is the Popular Union for the Liberation of Guadeloupe.

Rennette is believed by police to still be on the island.

At least 10 people were hurt, none seriously, in the first three days of protests. Most of those hurt were hit by thrown rocks. At least seven people were charged with looting.

Police have used tear gas in efforts to clear away protesters so they can remove barricades of old cars, tree limbs and boards.

Guadeloupe, a 687-square-mile island of 320,000 people, is one of three French Overseas Departments in the Caribbean. Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana function somewhat like states or counties within the French national government.

Election results indicate little support for independence on this island, whose people enjoy one of the region’s highest standards of living. Per capita income is $5,000 a year, triple that of most other eastern Caribbean islands.

Yet pro-independence activities have stepped up the past four years, and have brought violence.