More than 50,000 protesters took to the streets of France again in the eighth major protest against the government of Emmanuel Macron and its anti-people measures on 5 January. The protests took place in several cities and assumed violent form, mainly in Paris, spreading through the poor districts.
Demonstrators attacked especially government buildings, local police headquarters, auto dealers, big businesses and large establishments. A tractor destroyed the gate of a ministerial building where the government spokesman, Benjamin Griveaux, works, who had to be hurriedly removed by security guards in Paris.
In several other coutry cities, such as in Rouen and Caen, clashes also took place between police repression, which sought to silence the demonstrators, and the popular reaction. Police stations were set on fire and barricades were erected.
The protests began on November 17 against rising fuel prices, which directly impacted workers' salaries - rising fuel prices raises the price of all other commodities because they are used in logistics. The tax increase on fuels was one of the measures that are being implemented by the Macron government, while promoting tax exemption for corporations and big bourgeois.
The wave of protests, known as "yellow vests" (a type of compulsory vestment for motorists in France), was a spontaneous explosion of proletarian masses, liberal workers and small urban property owners. In surveys conducted in France, 84% considered the protests to be fair. The movement, in a given degree of development, began to question government itself and false democracy.
Translated from A Nova Democracia.
