BLOOD, CHAINS - 100 CHAINS - WITHOUT CHAIN

The monument was erected in memory of the events of May 26 1967. A dramatic episode in the trade union struggle, with a human toll difficult to assess. During a strike, construction workers unsuccessfully demanded a 2.5% pay rise and equal social rights. As they gathered in front of the city's Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the police, called to the scene, fired on the crowd. Jacques Nestor, a 24-year-old trade unionist and GONG (Groupe d'organisation nationale de la Guadeloupe) activist, was the first to be fatally shot by the police. The news spread rapidly, and clashes spread across the city for three days. The official toll was eight dead, some sixty injured among the crowd and 26 members of the security forces wounded. Activist organizations and Guadeloupeans in general are reporting much higher figures (up to 200 dead). This figure is difficult to assess, as many families are said to have taken in the lifeless bodies without declaring them, for fear of reprisals. In 1985, the French government announced 87 deaths.

More than fifty years later, these events are still fresh in the minds of the population, who still want to know the truth. A group of associations has been set up to this end: "Doubout Pou Mé 67" (Stand up for May '67), to fight for the truth and justice.