Behind the anger driving the French farmers’ revolt
The roadblocks and demonstrations by French farmers protesting a series of grievances, including low incomes, fuel costs, bureaucracy and competition from cheap imports, entered a second week on Thursday amid escalation of the unrest. Farmers’ unions have announced they will block roads around Paris on Friday, when the government is due to announce measures it hopes will defuse the movement. Mathieu Dejean reports from the town of Guéret in central France, where he met with protesting farmers who blocked the streets in a massive turnout that even surprised union officials.
ItIt was shortly after mid-afternoon on Wednesday when around 270 tractors, honking their horns, rumbled at low speed through the streets of Guéret, a small town situated in the Creuse département (county) in central France. They had come from various rallying points in the surrounding villages to converge on the central square, situated between the local prefecture building and the Guéret town hall.
