2024-01-01 02:19:30
Far from Matignon and Paris. Élisabeth Borne arrived this Sunday in Guyana to spend New Year’s Eve with the armed forces who are fighting in particular against illegal gold panning, far from the rumors of reshuffle and the political turmoil caused by the law on immigration.
In Maripasoula, in the Amazon rainforest, the head of government welcomed the “constant commitment” of the military, saying she was determined to fight against illegal gold prospectors. “There will be new equipment”, planned within the framework of the military programming law, which will arrive soon, in particular drones and helicopters, she noted during a press point.
Élisabeth Borne, who has “the feeling of duty accomplished” after the adoption of the controversial immigration law, attended Emmanuel Macron’s wishes from Guyana. The Head of State said he wanted to make 2024 “a year of determination”, thanking “especially” the head of government and her ministers for their commitment.
VIDEO. Macron’s wishes: a “year of determination” in 2024, with “decisive choices” for Europe
At the end of December, he promised a “new course” for 2024, fueling speculation around a possible reshuffle. This could take place “in around 15 days”, according to a government source, but with which holder in Matignon? Élisabeth Borne will stay in Guyana on January 1 and will start the year 2024 on a canoe to visit a river checkpoint and a Native American village.
This is the first time that she is going to this department of 300,000 inhabitants in the north-east of South America, bordering Suriname and Brazil which, like the Mayotte archipelago which she visited at the mid-December, 60% voted for Marine Le Pen in the last presidential election.
Tribute to the 2,200 soldiers
On her arrival, Ms. Borne paid tribute in Cayenne to the approximately 2,200 soldiers and approximately a thousand gendarmes stationed in Guyana, who lost two of their own this year in operations against illegal gold panning. Notably present was the former left-wing minister Christiane Taubira, who no longer has an elective mandate.
The Prime Minister then spoke with the mayor of Cayenne Sandra Trochimara, who wanted to talk to her about the opening up of the department, as big as Portugal but where only two national roads exist, after the death on Christmas Eve of four children in an accident of a taxi canoe.
She then spoke with the president of the local authority Gabriel Serville, before flying to Maripasoula (south west). The head of government, accompanied by the Secretary of State for Youth and Universal National Service, Prisca Thevenot, will visit on Monday a frequently affected site in Dorlin, where the forces of the 9th RIMa (marine infantry regiment) operate in particular. .
It was there that on March 25, a GIGN major, Arnaud Blanc, 35, was killed while he participated with nine comrades in an operation against these clandestine gold prospectors. At the beginning of May, a canoe driver and traditional chief of the Teko, member of the Armed Forces of Guyana (FAG), died in a canoe accident during a night operation on the Oyapock River (east).
Guyana, drug hub
Before taking the plane back to Paris, she will discuss the fight against drug trafficking at Cayenne airport. Guyana is known for being a hub for supplying the metropolis with drugs, particularly cocaine. Systematic screening of travelers to the metropolis was introduced a year ago, in order to prevent “mules” – these passengers who carry narcotics in their luggage or by ingesting them – from transporting the drugs.
This has made it possible to significantly reduce the seizures of narcotics upon arrival in France, but some are contesting in court an arbitrary drift. This traffic partly explains the violence faced by the department, which holds the record for the highest number of homicides per capita in France, although it is well equipped with security forces.
“The particularities in terms of delinquency are the continentality of its territory and the porosity of its borders, long and difficult to control. This encourages illegal gold mining, arms and drug trafficking,” explains criminologist Gaëlle Compper-Durand. Added to this geographical context is great poverty, which is profitable for criminal networks. In Guyana, 53% of the population lives below the poverty line, according to INSEE.
#Élisabeth #Borne #celebrates #Years #Eve #military #Guyana #rumors #future