The AP is reporting:
Meltdown pain felt in remnants of French empire
"But lately weeks of strikes and outbursts of rioting on Guadeloupe and nearby Martinique have disrupted the Caribbean calm. The world economic crisis is pushing up prices of staples that already cost more than on the French mainland, and reviving the resentment of the mixed-race majority toward the descendants of slave-owners and white colonists who still run much of the islands' economies."
Hotels and cruiselines hit by French Caribbean strikes
I am just coming across this story (late) for the first time:
Violent strikes on the French Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique have severely hit tourism to the area.
Thousands of islanders have been protesting about low wages and the rising cost of living for three weeks. They have set up blockades across the islands causing life for civilians to come to a standstill. The protests have turned violent causing schools, government offices, petrol stations and banks to close.
More here.

