More Yellow Vests Rise Up Against Macron
The fifteenth Saturday of the Yellow Vests (Gilets Jaunes) movement, on February 23 gathered more people compared the previous week.
The Ministry of the Interior reported that 46,000 people were counted throughout the day across the country, including 5,800 in Paris. In comparison to the previous week, 41,500 people participated in gatherings which took place in Clermont-Ferrand and Toulouse.
Protests were also organized all across France, with hundreds marching in Bordeaux, Clermont-Ferrand, Rouen, Rennes and Pau.
In Clermont, clashes took place in a shopping street in the city and the CRS had to make use of flashballs. In Bordeaux, the rally went ahead peacefully.
The Interior Minister condemned the violence that took place in Clermont-Ferrand, Rouen and Montpellier.
In Toulouse, Gilets Jaunes protesters targeted an Amazon warehouse on the outskirts of town and blocked deliveries. The Yellow Vests distributed leaflets that read “Amazon destroys jobs and the planet”.
Meanwhile, President Emmanuel Macron attended the International Agriculture Fair in Paris on the same day of the movement.
The embattled President and globalist stalwart vowed to protect European farming standards and culinary traditions undermined by aggressive foreign trade practices that treat food as a “product like any other.”
Macron’s speech was intended to allay the fears of farmers who felt neglected by the government in favor of the urban elites. Macron proposed using block chain technology to trace the source of food and putting Europe in the “avant-garde of agricultural technology.”
Eric Drouet, one of the prominent figures in yellow vests protests, tried to approach the president at the event.
“Dialogue [between the yellow vests and the government] was broken some time ago. We came to see what the president had to say”.
However, Drouet was not able to speak to Macron and later joined the Paris march.
When the Yellow Vest movement began in November 17, 2018, an estimated 282,000 people participated.
However, it has been observed that the turnout gradually diminished as the movement progressed.
Violent protests as well as the inability of the group to solidify under one common cause or leader may have contributed to dwindling public support.
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