This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/15/world/europe/france-yellow-vest-protests.html

The article has changed 13 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 11 Version 12
Paris Is Fortified as 5th Week of ‘Yellow Vests’ Protests Brings Scuffles and Tear Gas ‘Yellow Vest’ Protests Dwindle Amid Warnings and Concessions
(about 3 hours later)
PARIS — Boarded-up shops. Empty cafes. Closed museums. And, for the most part, two main colors: the bright yellow vests of protesters and the black gear of riot police. PARIS — The fifth weekend of “Yellow Vest” protests against President Emmanuel Macron’s economic and social policies drew far fewer demonstrators on Saturday, but thousands still filled the streets of Paris and other French cities in defiance of government security warnings and despite bitter cold.
For the fifth straight weekend, France was confronted by determined “Yellow Vests” protesters who gathered on Saturday in Paris and other cities in a challenge to President Emmanuel Macron and his policies. The demonstrations were also calmer than in past weeks — though some scuffles broke out between protesters and the police, who fired tear gas and water cannons several times to disperse crowds.
This time, they were defying both bitter cold and security warnings from the government, which had said protests would complicate the task of preventing terrorism in the days after an attack on a Christmas market in Strasbourg killed four people and injured 11 others. The ranks of protesters dwindled after Mr. Macron this week promised tax cuts and wage increases to mollify the Yellow Vests, who are angry over the cost of living and high taxes. It was still not clear whether Mr. Macron was able to convince many of the protesters, as he struggles to address an unstructured and leaderless movement with myriad grievances.
The turnout was smaller compared with that of previous Saturdays, possibly because of the weather, weariness and concessions made by Mr. Macron, who promised tax cuts and wage increases to mollify the protesters after weeks of protest that left seven dead on the fringes of the demonstrations — six people in France and one in neighboring Belgium. The government had also warned that protests would complicate the task of preventing terrorism after a shooting on Tuesday at a Christmas market in the eastern city of Strasbourg killed four people.
But by midafternoon, the protests were calmer than in past weeks — though some scuffles broke out between protesters and officers, and the riot police used tear gas several times to disperse crowds or clear out intersections, as well as water cannons. Pierre-Étienne Billot, 40, was one of the relatively few Parisian demonstrators; most have come to the capital from provinces. He said his opinion of Mr. Macron had not changed.
In the afternoon, the police said that there were fewer than 3,000 protesters in Paris, and that about 90 people had been arrested — a far cry from the more than 500 taken into custody at the same time last week. The government said about 33,000 had turned out across the country; in comparison, roughly 77,000 protesters had been counted at that time nationwide last Saturday, including 10,000 in Paris. “He is someone who looks down his nose at you,” said Mr. Billot, who works in marketing. He stood on the famed Champs-Élysées, tear gas wafting in the distance, in front of a large drugstore that was broken into last week by protesters but left alone on Saturday.
Despite the concessions by the government, the protesters said Mr. Macron had not done enough to assuage their concerns. Several people said that weariness from weekly protests — and a growing reluctance to attend potentially violent demonstrations — had chipped away at the number of protesters.
“We are exhausted by the colossal pressure of taxation that takes away the energy of our country, of our entrepreneurs, of our artisans, of our small businesses, of our creators and of our workers, while a small elite constantly dodges taxes,” Priscillia Ludosky, best known for a petition calling for a drop in gas prices, said in front of the Paris Opera house, where hundreds of protesters had gathered. The demonstrations have become “a bit repetitive,” Mr. Billot said. “Demonstrating every Saturday doesn’t help the movement. We need more symbolic actions” like blocking airports or other key locations, he added.
The movement has no defined structure, and unofficial leaders of the Yellow Vests used a megaphone to address the crowd. The protesters are also seeking the creation of a mechanism for popular referendums in the Constitution, as a way to have a bigger say in making France’s laws. On Saturday evening, police said that there were fewer than 3,000 protesters in Paris, and that fewer than 200 people had been arrested compared with more than 1,000 a week ago. The government said about 66,000 had turned out across the country versus more than 125,000 by that same time last Saturday — 10,000 of them in Paris.
After the remarks, protesters trying to leave the area clashed briefly with the police, who blocked their way, spraying tear gas and using batons. In other French cities like Saint-Etienne, Bordeaux or Marseille, turnout and tensions between police and protesters were also lower than in past weeks.
The protests initially erupted on Nov. 17, and have been smaller but unrelenting since. More than 1,400 people have been wounded, 46 of them seriously, in addition to 700 police officers, gendarmes and firefighters. The protesters who did come out said Mr. Macron had not done enough to assuage their concerns, even with the recent concessions.
Violence during the protests had increased from the early weeks, especially on Dec. 1 and Dec. 8, when protesters, some of them vandals, clashed with the police, burned cars and looted stores. Other cities, like Bordeaux and Toulouse, were also hit by violent protests. In Paris, monuments like the Arc de Triomphe and museums like the Petit Palais stayed closed on Saturday. “We are exhausted by the colossal pressure of taxation that takes away the energy of our country, of our entrepreneurs, of our artisans, of our small businesses, of our creators and of our workers, while a small elite constantly dodges taxes,” Priscillia Ludosky, best known for a petition calling for a drop in gas prices, said into a megaphone in front of the Paris Opera house, where hundreds of protesters had gathered.
The demonstrations by the Yellow Vests — who take their name from the fluorescent hazard vests that all drivers in France must carry in their vehicles — were initially driven by anger over an increase in fuel taxes, since canceled. But they have morphed into a much broader expression of frustration over declining purchasing power and a rejection of Mr. Macron’s style of government.The demonstrations by the Yellow Vests — who take their name from the fluorescent hazard vests that all drivers in France must carry in their vehicles — were initially driven by anger over an increase in fuel taxes, since canceled. But they have morphed into a much broader expression of frustration over declining purchasing power and a rejection of Mr. Macron’s style of government.
“He is someone who looks down his nose at you,” said Pierre-Étienne Billot, 40, one of the relatively few Parisian demonstrators on Saturday. Most demonstrators have come to the capital from France’s provinces. Another growing demand from the Yellow Vests is the creation of a mechanism for popular referendums in the Constitution as a way to give the public a bigger say in making French laws.
“Macron backed off a bit,” said Mr. Billot, who works in marketing. He added that the repetitiveness and weariness that comes with protesting every Saturday had probably discouraged some from returning. The protests initially erupted on Nov. 17, and have been smaller but unrelenting since. More than 2,100 people — 700 of them police officers, gendarmes or firefighters — have been injured.
“Demonstrating every Saturday doesn’t help the movement, we need more symbolic actions,” he said, like blocking airports or other key locations. Violence during the demonstrations increased, especially over the past two weekends when protesters, some of them vandals, clashed with the police, burned cars and looted stores in Paris and other cities. Demonstrators and journalists complained about heavy-handed tactics by the police.
The overall mood in Paris remained calm, despite sporadic tensions. Crowds on the Champs-Élysées ebbed and flowed as the day progressed and rain started to fall. Police fired tear gas several times to disperse the crowds. As darkness fell and some protesters left a cold and rainy capital, the police turned their attention to the vandals and more radical protesters who often act more violently later in the day. In a report published on Friday, Human Rights Watch said that France’s “crowd-control methods maim people,” pointing to cases where protesters were wounded by rubber projectiles and tear gas grenades.
Mr. Macron, speaking on Friday at a news conference in Brussels after a European summit meeting, said that he had heard the Yellow Vests’ demands and had addressed them, referring to a widely watched televised address this week. In it, Mr. Macron made a rare admission of shortcomings, outlining a roughly 10 billion-euro plan to increase the wages of low-income earners and to cut taxes for poorer pensioners and those on overtime pay. He also promised to work more closely on policymaking with residents and local authorities. Preparing for a violent Saturday has become something of a ritual this fall, especially in Paris, where authorities deployed thousands of police officers and locked down entire neighborhoods. Shops and cafes boarded up, and monuments like the Arc de Triomphe and museums stayed closed.
Jody Demengel, a 19-year-old job seeker, and her friend Dylan, 20, both wearing yellow vests, had driven about four hours from the Vosges region to Paris to protest for a second time. But the overall mood in Paris remained calm. No cars were burned, and no barricades were erected.
“We are fed up,” said Ms. Demengel, noting that while Mr. Macron had announced some relief, “the students have nothing, the unemployed are still left by the wayside.” Mr. Macron’s supporters welcomed the respite. Richard Ferrand, the president of France’s lower house of Parliament and a close ally of Mr. Macron, said that the sparsely attended protests were something to “rejoice” about.
Dylan, who declined to give his surname, said he did not expect many people to turn out for protests next weekend, just before Christmas, but “if things haven’t changed in January, it will be worse.” “The hour is not for fighting, but for debating,” he told French television reporters.
He said that he was on a fixed-term contract as a pastry worker in a company that couldn’t afford to hire him on a permanent contract because of taxes. Christophe Castaner, the interior minister, was more forceful.
“I’m not for his resignation,” he added, referring to Mr. Macron, “but for a broad change in his policies.” “The roundabouts must be freed, and the security of all must once again become the rule,” he said on Twitter on Saturday evening, adding that an eighth person had died on the fringes of the demonstrations since the beginning of the movement.
Mr. Macron’s call for calm was echoed by many other government officials in the wake of the attack on Tuesday in the eastern city of Strasbourg, where four people were shot dead in what the authorities described as a terrorist attack. The suspect, Chérif Chekatt, was killed by the police on Thursday night. In a widely watched televised address this week, Mr. Macron made a rare admission of shortcomings, outlining a roughly 10 billion-euro plan to increase the wages of low-income earners and to cut taxes for poorer pensioners and those on overtime pay.
The government even released a video on Friday urging protesters to reconsider violence. “Protesting is a right,” it said, but “protesting is not smashing.” He also promised to work more closely on policymaking with residents and local authorities, and announced plans for a nationwide debate on environmental policy, taxation, democracy, and state reform.
Demonstrators and journalists have complained about the heavy-handed tactics of the police during recent protests. In a report published on Friday, Human Rights Watch said that France’s “crowd-control methods maim people,” pointing to cases where protesters were wounded by rubber projectiles and tear gas grenades. Despite the low turnout on Saturday and even lower expectations that people would protest next week, just days before Christmas, protesters said anger with Mr. Macron had not gone away.
Kartik Raj, Western Europe researcher at Human Rights Watch, said, “Tactics which may be legitimate for deterring violent demonstrations are not an appropriate response to people gathered peacefully, and can cause horrific injuries.” “We are fed up,” said Jody Demengel, a 19-year-old job seeker, who noted that while Mr. Macron had announced some relief, “the students have nothing, the unemployed are still left by the wayside.”