All language subtitles for La machette et le marteau (1975).en

After political and
social departmentalization,

we realize that nothing justifies
these unacceptable inequalities.

I am determined to eradicate them.

Black race grateful.

In spite of 28 years
of departmentalization,

the social economy system of this
old French colony has stayed the same.

A quasi monoculture of the banana,

but particularly sugarcane
imposed by the sugar industry,

determines the life
of half of the population.

However, before the requirements
of modern capitalism,

the old opposition, master and slave,

has given more meaning to the struggle
between boss and workers.

The reforms of 1963 have given
advantage to the factories.

The factory owners are also
the big property owners of the island.

The land was in fact consolidated
in view of mechanization.

From the farmer's point of view,

an apparent classification between workers
and small growers exposes the same reality:

survive with sugarcane and cultivate
a small piece of land to make ends meet.

Remi! Remi!

I'll take this part. I've been here
since very early this morning.

I am here! I am here!
I want to see when did you place me?

Who is there?
It's me.

Sure, no, don't be afraid.

Wait! Wait!

One, two, one, two. Who is there?

We are going to
join the others over there.

The sun is shining, birds singing,
butterflies flying,

I didn't find a job,
the child is crying,

nothing to eat, everywhere I go,
I didn't find a job,

ask God why on earth, men exploited men,

despised men, when this will be better,

one day this will be better.

One day this will be better.

I must tell you, Sainte-Marthe is a
factory that has been blocked since 1947.

We've resisted for 30 years.
That's not bad.

In fact, the tragedy comes from us
entering the common market

too quickly and not organized enough.

When we saw that entrance to the
common market was for us a disaster,

not a disaster really,

but it caused us some difficulties,
a decrease in our incomes,

We immediately tried to bring the situation
to the attention of the administration.

In France, sugar is paid immediately
on its way out of the factory

but for us, sugar is paid FOB.
(free on board)

So, we have all the charges of storage,

docking, and shipping
which weakened our incomes.

I must say, I am very anxious,
and we don't know where we are going.

The main claims of these
political struggles that happened

consistently at each sugar campaign are:

the price for a ton of cane
and the farmworkers' wages.

We saw in 1972 the closure
of the Bonne M re cont factory,

which had received a lot of
investments and was modernized.

We thought that it was maybe
a reaction of the factory owners,

facing the rise of workers' claims
and others.

The general council decided to create
an ad hoc commission on the sugar economy,

so it could understand all the problems,

and create a unified policy
for the production of sugar.

Because really we don't have
a unified sugar policy.

If we want to exert an opinion,
or political social pressure,

sugar cane is key.

That is why every year
the sugar campaign period

is socially and politically
delicate in the local council.

We are
the main industry on the island,

so it's normal that cane or sugar
is the starting point of all movements,

even ones that have
nothing to do with cane or sugar.

We've been on strike since February 15.

We asked for 45 francs for the tiers,
50 francs for the cutters.

The boss would have agreed only
if we worked eight hours straight.

We told them it was impossible to
cut sugarcane for eight hours straight.

We remained on strike
for eight or ten days

and asked that our labor rights
be respected.

If a worker has to cut 95 or 97 meters,

this job has to be calculated
according to eight hours of work.

Is that 1m?

This is how we measure the job.
75 meters long is a job.

80 or 98 meters, we measure like that.

How long does it take to do this job?
Between two and three hours.

It's a problem for the workers.

They are paid for a day,
they do this job in two or three hours.

It depends on the speed of the cutter,

it depends on his health,
at a given moment,

it depends on the cane to be cut.

It depends on the inter-harvest.

It depends, because at the inter-harvest
they estimate the cane yield per hectare.

So, at the inter-harvest
they know how much to cut.

What risk do we take when
we pay people on time?

In this case, they will not do
more in two or three hours.

No, because the collective agreement
has already set a cost scale.

So if you give 85 or 95 meters,
it is calculated for an eight-hour day,

even if they do it in two, three,
or an hour and a half.

The difficulty is to fix a point,
the fixed point of the conflict,

because according to the date, days,
and times of the meeting,

the point of conflict varies.

Sometimes we
do not know where we are.

Therefore, the people of the UTA
[Union des Travailleurs Agricoles]

are not real workers.

They are sometimes cutters, sometimes
planters, or agricultural workers.

The 140 francs for a ton of
sugar cane that we ask for

is to amortize what we spend.
(employing workers on a factory field)

We discussed this in a
professional committee.

The prefect replied that he accepted,

he would pay 109 francs per ton of cane
at saccharine value of 9.

In this system,
which is an archaic system,

the planters don't know,

when bringing their cane to
the factory, what price they'll get.

In the end, we know nothing,

because the price is according
to the recipe,

and the recipe is according
to the price of sugar.

Now, if we calculate well,
a ton of cane costs 80 francs.

Mr. Prefect declares it is the cane
to a saccharine value of 9.

And they never pay
a saccharine value of 9.

They give us 7, 6 and a half.

Mr. Prefect, we went to a professional
commission, we showed them proof.

He explained to us that he would give us
109 francs, only 109 francs.

He told us it was according
to the value of 9,

and then we
demonstrated on a ton of cane.

But when they sell
the cane to the factory,

one ton of sugar costs 80 francs.

When you sell a ton of cane,
it gives you sugar, rum, alcohol,

sugarcane pulp, and molasses.

At the same time, the pulp
with which they make furniture.

The only thing the factory loses
on the cane is the smoke.

The sugarcane system is a bit archaic.

This system links the interests
of planters and factory owners

in a global revenue sharing system.

In the current state of things, in the
condition of organization of this sector,

in the organization of the
factory owners and the planters,

they do not buy
the cane at a fixed price...

from the planters.

They take the cane,
put down a deposit,

and, at the end of the campaign, when
the receipts have all been brought in,

for the sugar, the molasses, the rum,
and the pulp, for many other things,

It was commonly said, "the overall
revenue stands at this amount.

According to the agreement between
the partners this division was shared,

two thirds, one third.

Two thirds for the planters
and one third for millers.

This was always the system,

and the cane to share was reduced
and we fought a lot more to share it.

If there was plenty of sugar,

the division would be abundant.

Even if the price
for one unit would be higher.

There would be more money to share
and people would be much happier.

With us there is
no disaffection for the cane,

the disaffection comes from
the price of the ton of cane.

For four years as president
of the association of cane producers,

in Paris I howled against it,

I told them if you want
to solve the problem,

you have to pay the right price
for a ton of cane.

That he is the scapegoat is in the
nature of things, for two reasons.

Firstly, the sugarcane sector is the
most important sector in the department.

Industries are on the front line because
they are the bosses in Guadeloupe.

It is very easy to attack factories but in
the long term, the problem is eliminated.

The factories will be mechanized.
That's a reality.

Where there are not enough workers,

we are inevitably going to see
more and more mechanization.

The problem is the base cost.

In Europe the industry
is much more mechanized,

it involves less human labor,
and we have to keep up.

If we are lucky enough to have some
water, in May, June, and July,

there will be
a harvest next year,

because there's
a lot of work at the moment.

We have no problem with either
planters or agricultural workers.

In Gardel, we have
no problem with anyone.

The problem we had was people who
came from outside to terrorize them

and make them quit their jobs.
We have no problems.

Here we do not agree to strike.

Everyone has a small
field of cane, an ox.

An ox at least.

We see our boss directly when we have
a problem, he is an approachable man.

If we see him around,
he stops to talk with us.

It's easy with our boss.

We think that what will allow us
to solve the problems

that arise at the level of the workers,
of the planters and the colonists,

it is the moment when our comrades
take charge of their struggle themselves.

We can't say that looking for
another way to chat with the boss,

would make him understand,

because we know very well

that we are in a country where
exploitation will never end.

We are in a capitalist country, and in a
capitalist country that is what exists.

A handful of men

exploit an entire people.

Even if the exploited seek to
collaborate with their exploiter,

the exploiter will never realize

because his only objective
is to make you into what he wants.

What he wants is to get the most
out of you, even if you are nice,

even if you let him do
what he wants with you.

On the contrary, that's where
he will have more power

and will really do
what he wants with you.

In Gardel, we work in poor conditions
for a pittance.

We force the employers to talk
to satisfy ours demands,

but the bosses, especially in Gardel,
know how to play the demagogue.

They drag things out, from
joining committees to joining committees.

They are always in financial difficulty,
they supposedly can never pay.

It's a union that was created
quite recently,

obviously much more left-wing
than the others.

There are three main
trade union organizations

that really defend
the working class and peasants.

They are UTA, UGPG, and UGTG.

That's why we have all the scabs
and even politicians against us.

I will finish peeling the vegetables
and cook them.

In the morning I leave at half past six,

and when I work for me,
I leave at half past four.

It's thanks to comrade Armande
that I found out about the union.

She's the one who
made me join the union.

If it wasn't for her, I would never
have experienced this,

but I don't regret anything.

Now I want to get rid of them.

So my comrades
cut my field with me.

Finally, I thank God,
I especially thank the union.

Now that it's starting,
we have delayed too long.

It's a movement for us poor people.

We didn't even dare to really hope.
It's a situation made for us.

We didn't understand
how it could be like that.

Now things are changing.
Last year I joined the self-help group.

It's the first time I saw the
color of money, the first time.

That had never
happened to me in my life.

Since you went to night school,
have things really changed?

Of course, it's like
we're getting some practice.

If I stay there waiting
and no one comes to get me,

I feel sad about it,
I want to go.

Most workers and peasants in Guadeloupe
can neither read nor write,

but it's not our fault.

The most important role for you,
the intellectuals,

next to the peasants
is in night school,

to teach us what we don't know,
for example multiplication and addition.

Before, I couldn't understand
a percentage on a payslip,

but now I can do it.
Who showed it to me?

It were the intellectual comrades,

because personally I never
have time to open a book at home.

At the end of the harvest,

I did not have enough to pay the people
who worked with me,

so I used money from the family allowances
and my hands remained empty.

Since I joined the self-help group,

my comrades took two days
to cut cane with me,

so I managed to save 200,000 francs
after paying for the transport.

If this woman had to cut her cane alone,
and pay people to remove it,

she would never
have been able to do it.

She would have really been miserable.

She would have had a hard time
coping with the situation.

I told myself

that I would try hard not to borrow
money from the factory and the bank.

I have to find a way to hold on.

This year I may not make 10 tons more, but
with the support of the self-help group,

I'm sure I can pay my debts to the bank
and maybe I'll have some left to live on.

Thanks to the self-help group.

If the working people do not continue
this self-help group,

we will not find other way to get out
of the hands of the capitalists,

or from Cr dit Agricole.

To be able to lead the fight,

we must have unity among us,

unity in the self-help group,

unity in the struggle,

and unity between workers,

industrialists, and small farmers
to be able to get by.

And it is thanks to our union
that we are starting to organize,

because before that, we really
didn't know how to get out of it.

Well, today people don't want the CGT.

- Why don't they want the CGT?
- I don't know.

Everyone goes to the UTA.

Because the UTA is
a good union for you?

Not necessarily,
but people go there.

Does the union
do anything for you?

It tries to make the blacks
understand a little.

This year we stayed longer
before going back to work.

Does the UTA incite the workers
against the factories

by telling them that the factories
must be broken up?

No, they never said
break up the factories,

but to stay home and wait.

They didn't say to break the factories.

Because if the factory is broken
our two arms will be broken.

Those who don't know,
keep up to date.

It's getting hot
at Grosse Montagne.

Keep up to date.

It's getting hot
at Grosse Montagne.

Ch rubin C leste
went on a hunger strike.

He went for 12 days without eating,

so the police arrived,

they sent tear gas canisters,

Pick up the phone
and warn everyone.

It was the mayor who warned us,

there is really
a fire at Grosse Montagne.

In fact,

we had been in this strike
situation for more than a month

and things were really starting to rot.

We felt that people
were going to give up.

On Tuesday evening we decided to
go down to the village to see the mayor.

We went with him to the fields to check
if there were Haitians and police,

and then, that's how it started.

We found in the cane field 10, 20,
30, 40 Haitians who were working,

hired by the factory or at least
by the managers.

Aren't they the ones in charge of
recruiting the cane cutters?

I discovered the problem myself
at this moment.

I realized that the Haitians
who had come as tourists

had not left Guadeloupe and were looking
to work and earn a living.

As they find conditions in Guadeloupe
infinitely better than in Haiti,

this without any kind of
criticism of the Republic of Haiti,

so, they stay here.

That Wednesday,
when we did the walkouts,

we came back here,
we phoned the prefect,

and then,

in the evening, I went to the countryside
to see a group of agricultural workers.

It's often with them that I feel
the pulse of the situation.

The guys were really desperate,

saying that work
is going to start Monday.

Anyway, that's it,
and they got us again this time.

I didn't think of a single moment
before taking this action.

When you go on a strike,
you have to have groups that act.

You have to have this, that, etc.

I didn't think about that at all,

and then some friends came to see me,
they said, no, you shouldn't do that, etc.

But, I always remained fairly firm
on my position and never worry.

So, I didn't do this to get
people going, really.

I do it as a fundamental challenge.

I have a husband and two children.

I had never had to
separate from them.

But during this event
I stayed outside for two days.

Even when I came home to rest,
at the slightest sign I went away.

I didn't know if my husband ate,
if my children went to school.

The only thing that mattered to me was
what was happening at Grosse Montagne.

My God, we don't all have the courage
to come and speak on the microphone,

to say two words.

I ask those who have nothing to say
not to prevent others from speaking.

We got up in the morning,
we were going to stop the scabs.

We were everywhere.

We made each other aware of our actions.

We also comforted each other.

We were resting after preparing
for the next day,

at which point all the gossip
and stories of good wives were over.

It's like for the self-help group,
today I only thought about that.

I only thought of
how to help my comrades.

Now I am just saying,
I am not charging myself,

me, as a priest,
even as a church, to build a society.

I am really saying people
will take whatever option they want

when they're enlightened.

Because I have a personal orientation
as a Guadeloupean,

I can help people who want to go
in my personal direction and to progress,

but compared to all the
believers of Guadeloupe,

I do not feel a responsibility
to lead them in one direction.

The trade union struggle is about
economic problems above all.

But the way to carry out
this trade union struggle

necessarily implies a political line,

given that it is
an organization of class.

This class organization
was formed to fight

the domination of the factory capitalists
and the landowners on the one hand,

but also, to fight a reformist line
which was that of the Communist Party,

and there was
necessarily a political line.

Try to imagine the comrade
whose cane we are cutting today.

Day after day of him
being all alone in a field like this.

We consider that one of
the causes of peasant misery,

but certainly not the only cause,

is individual work in the countryside.

Individual work makes you selfish,

obliges you most of the time
to be in your cane field

and not to take care of anything else.

For example,
to cut a field like this,

the comrade should have worked every day
from February until June or July.

And do this every day.

What other problem
do you want him to take care of?

His only objective is
to take care of the cane,

so he cannot
talk with other workers.

You must have the desire to participate
in any union action whatsoever.

It was necessary to go through this
trade union phase of mass organization

before arriving at
a more open political struggle,

because the trade union struggle
in a colonized country

cannot be free...

from, let's say, what some could call the
after-effects of the political struggle.

Giscard at the helm!

We'll see you later:
Giscard at the helm!

I already told her to take it off.

Currently, everyone from the
factory capitalists to the CP,

says that we are in
a pre-revolutionary situation.

Everyone expects that
there will be very clear changes

from the very creation of these unions.

The factory capitalists continue to claim
that the unions are unrepresentative

because they are not affiliated
with a trade union center in France,

But creating these unions was the first
gesture, it is a political gesture.

The fact of having created
local unions, if you will.

Guadaloupean unions that are not
affiliated with a central union in France

are already a mark of independence.

It seemed
so impossible to the people.

How can there be a union here
that has no base in France,

which is not recognized by a boss,
by a union in France?

We were able to demonstrate, precisely,
that thanks to the trade union line

which supported
this trade union action,

it was possible, really possible,

to have unions built here as long as
they were in tune with the masses.

That is to say, a mass line,
really linked to the masses

and where they consult
the masses at all times,

there could be
quite viable trade unions,

which could carry out correct struggles.

Comrades must understand that it is
they who make the capitalists live,

not the capitalists who make them live.

They will have to understand
their true importance in the country.

Because workers
are in one social class,

the capitalists in another social class.

Comrades will have to understand
that their social class

is not at all family
of that of the capitalists.

Then, comrades will have to understand
that it will be necessary to fight

against the capitalists
to achieve anything.

Give us the price for our cane.

We want 110 francs a ton.

Mr. Factory Worker, you have to pay us.

I have to tell you: So what?

Hello comrades: So what?

Let's go squarely: So what?

Let's dive into the ravine: So what?

Let's cut comrade Pastel's cane.

We organize meetings
to talk about problems,

first, the case of the comrade
whose cane we cut today.

Every year, he is obliged to
hire people to cut his cane,

so when he gives the owner 20%
of the yield and he pays for labor,

every year he still owes money.

He takes care of his cane,
and the 350 tons produced,

the owner will tell him, hey!
Here is 25,000 francs in advance.

He is still forced to sell himself
to the landowner.

We in Guadeloupe
cultivate two raw materials.

Sugarcane and bananas
bring the most profit

to the French
colonial capitalists.

That's why
we have no other alternative.

We plant food, which allows us to resist,
but we have no outlet market for it.

We absolutely cannot develop
this sector properly.

This is why, in the self-help group,
we say that if we want to fight properly

against colonial
capitalist exploitation in Guadeloupe,

we must develop resistance products
as much as possible,

that is to say,
food products in any circumstance.

The capitalists want us to mainly
grow cane and bananas.

What is the position of an intellectual
in these conditions?

He can have two positions:

either he puts himself
on the side of the capitalists,

or he puts himself on the side
of the people to really help workers.

You must get into it,
you must fit in with the crowd.

You must do whatever it takes,
which is to work with them.

It is not enough to say, I am supporting
a struggle because it is just.

It is also necessary that the workers
see and feel that we are among them.

Unity is what is missing in Guadeloupe.

We decided that if we fought together,

we had to be able
to also work together.

By struggling together, the unity that is
forged is very important for the struggle.

This is why we decided to organize
the self-help group,

not only to work together
in the cane fields,

but also to
develop resistance agriculture.

Local elected officials told us
that we must find a solution,

must find a solution,

as if the solution was going to fall
from the sky into their hands.

That they, themselves, had the solution.

May 1 brings the banners,
signs, national demonstration.

Everyone to the demonstration
in Pointe- -Pitre at 8 am.

After the UGTG will come the UTA.

After the UTA will come the UPG.

After the UPG
will come the young people.

After the young people will come
the support committees etc.

Demonstration May 1st UTA. UGTG. UPG.

In the lead, the UGTG.

Long live the struggle of the
third-world people against imperialism

With the banners of the Internationale,
the banners of May 1st, etc.

After the UGTG will come the UTA.

After the UTA will come the UPG.

After the UPG will come the inter-union.

I mean the other unions who come
to demonstrate with us.

Unity of workers and intellectuals!

Vietnam won, we will win too!

It is not up to the trade unions
to lead the political struggle.

All they can do is help raise
awareness of the masses

through the class battles
that will unfold in production.

It is to help as much as possible,
peasants, workers,

to become aware of the reality
of the Guadeloupean problem

which until now a good part
of the population did not understand.

We don't want capitalist mechanization!

We have been poisoned by all
sorts of revisionist leagues

and we have not really understood that

the army, the gendarmes,
the police in front of us

were forces of repression
in the service of a class,

for the defense of the interests
of this class.

It was not, say, apolitical men,

it was men who were
the armed force of a political class.

So, it was necessary to organize
on the political level

to respond at the same level
to these elements.

Long live May 1st.

One for all! All for one!

A real President
Giscard d'Estaing!

PCG CGT betrayal!

It's not just the UTA,
the CGT is there too.

We had a frank and fair
explanation with the CGT.

It has been more than four years
since we created the Darboussier union.

It's powerful for us, because when
we have problems with the boss,

that gets settled between us.

If we must go on strike,
we'll do it, the law allows us.

We do it. We follow the law.

We must always try to face the boss
and they always try to face us.

Everyone has to meet their goal.

The boss wants to make
as much as possible on our backs,

but we too make sure to take advantage
of everything we can from him.

In Guadeloupe,
in the plantations,

the millers
have their own land.

They provide up to 60%
of their cane needs.

The rest is supplied
by the small planters.

Despite the increasingly
advanced mechanization,

more than 50% of the factory land
is still cut by hand.

This device takes a sample of cane
delivered by the planter.

The saccharine value of the extracted juice
will then be chemically analyzed.

At the same time
the cane will be weighed,

and depending on the weight of the fiber
and the price of sugar today

the saccharine value
will be determined.

It is justice, say the millers.

We pay for the cane based on
what it brings us in sugar.

Have a richer cane
and you will be paid more.

Small planters say that this way
of paying is practically robbery.

We have no means of control
over the saccharine value,

which means the millers arbitrarily
determine the value of our cane.

It often happens
that cane from the same field

removed under the same conditions,
is assigned a different value.

Nothing justifies paying us only
in relation to the saccharine value,

while the millers get benefits
from other products of the cane.

On the other hand, the factory
takes into account its ability

to extract sugar from the cane
when they fix the saccharine value.

Therefore we pay the price for
the non-modernization of the factories.

I'm ashamed to say that
in front of my wife,

because she'll scream.

I would like to find a way

where I would never see a cane leaf.

If the situation does not change,

but if the bosses agree
to give us a fair price,

I will plant sugarcane on my doorstep.

We are ready.

We can pass about 350,000 to
450,000 tons of cane to Darboussier.

Nothing but Darboussier.

Last year we made 285,000 tons,

but with 650 hours of stoppages
due to lack of rods.

By working at 18,000 tons a week,

or by starting
on Sunday doing 19,000 tons,

we can do from 350,000 to
380,000 tons a year.

If we consider our problem,
here's what's tragic.

The problem is that the weight of the SIS
(Soci t Industrielle du Sucre)

in Guadeloupe's economy

is infinitely greater than the weight
of Renault in France's economy.

And that's the problem.

Because sugar represents 60%
of Guadeloupe's exports,

and we represent 40% of
Guadeloupe's sugar exports,

which means that we represent
25% of the Guadeloupe economy.

When we look
with our European colleagues,

since we are
on the whole European,

and we are put in competition
with European companies

that are 10 times
more powerful than us.

We are very small, but,
for the Guadeloupeans

we are a giant, since we produce
25% of the country's industrial capacity.

Now I put the question to the
political leaders of the country.

Do they believe that given
all the trouble we have had here,

we have invested and we are closing
the factories one after another?

Do you think this is a happy context
for bringing in other industries,

knowing the problems we've had?

There must be a general consensus
for industrialization to take hold.

What industrialist would be
crazy enough to come here

in this current economic, social,
and political context

to invest in Guadeloupe?

Sugar silo, Pointe Jarry

You would never imagine
that Guadeloupe has

an automobile plant, steelworks,
blast furnaces, things like that,

so you have to think of industry
in the sense of light manufacturing,

using a lot of labor and turned toward

meeting local needs as much as possible.

And the other hand, satisfying
local needs as much as possible.

The only industrial construction
in the department

is in the region of Pointe- -Pitre.

It is not the main administrative city
of Pointe- -Pitre

but it is called Pointe Jarry, which is
the agglomeration of Pointe- -Pitre.

We have been
striving for many years

to develop this economy

and in particular to
develop tourist activities.

We have already achieved
promising results in this area,

because tourism
has come to Guadeloupe

and it is part of
a changing economy.

Our concern is to diversify tourism
as much as possible

to make it a complete tourism,

accessible to everyone,

accessible to Europeans,

not only to a North American clientele,

Canadians or Americans.

Tourism is currently experiencing
a rather extraordinary boom,

firstly because establishments
have been built,

but above all, because
there was a kind of refusal

from tourists to visit Guadeloupe,

who until recently visited
the British-controlled islands

where amenities
were much older than ours.

In the islands under British control,

which have become
more or less independent,

a certain insecurity has set in.

A certain insecurity.

I mean by that, the tourist,
whoever he is, is not at ease,

he is frowned upon,
people look at him sideways,

or even make him a little miserable,

and he arrives in
certain neighboring countries

where there are acts
of blatant aggression.

What tourism brings Guadeloupe is

political stability,

and security for
people and trade.

In general, the products
made in the West Indies

have always been a little shunned.

Why is it in our interest
to create industries here?

The goal is
to succeed in lowering costs.

To lower costs, we must import
as cheaply as possible and.

produce right here,

not out of a spirit of chauvinism,

but to get people to think that
what can be done here

is as good as what is done outside.

We want to show
that we remain French.

But we want it to be
Guadeloupean French in a way.

Young industries that start up
all have the same problem.

Import glassware, and you pay
the same freight as for liquids.

When an industry rises, it balances
out as well as in any French department,

so it can provide a similar product.

The position will still be decisive,

precisely at the level of these
industrialists from the Caribbean society

whose voice deserves to be heard.

They're afraid to stick their necks out
with the right and be rejected by the left,

or to stick their necks out with the left
and lose what the right can bring them.

- That's an unbearable position.
- Yes, unbearable.

I think that if the bourgeoisie decides
to get involved,

it will be able to tip the balance
one way or the other.

I think that especially
the young industrialists

are aware of the difficulties,

and I think that they'll take a stand
and things could move forward.

Development won't happen
only through tourism.

It must also happen through
industrialization.

I think that there is a certain limit
to not cross,

and turn us all into collaborators

in an exotic tourist industry
for westerners.

I don't like it.

We shouldn't think only about tourism.

It's more interesting for a young person
to find a job in industry,

because afterwards, if he wants to
leave his country or go elsewhere,

he's learned something,

more than in the tourist industry,
the hotel industry,

where often, unfortunately, because
professional training is behind the times,

he cannot find much.

There are just a few subordinate jobs.

There are economic problems
that must be solved.

Then, we can be tempted to say
that we are going to

operate in an empirical way,
problem by problem,

or we can be tempted to say that

we are going to solve the problem
in the political arena.

It is perhaps what we did in 1946.

We said there's an economic problem,
we'll solve it, we will departmentalize.

Then, after 20 years, 30 years,
we realized that the problems remain.

We are behind in general,
but here more than elsewhere.

???

Bananas are farmed on thousands
of hectares around the world,

tens of thousands of hectares.

So here, 300 hectares seems important.

If I want to achieve profitability,
that's the goal of the operation,

I have to apply certain methods.

I compressed my staff for budgetary
and imperative reasons. I had no choice.

I had a total of 350 people until
the third quarter of 1974.

Since the fourth quarter of 1974
I have nominally 100 people working.

I think they will be satisfied to have
more job security, to earn more.

So I think that for them
it will be a balancing element

that in my opinion
does not exist at the moment.

People who are bored.
It happens sometime.

To go on strike
because you are bored.

I think that sometimes strikes
are made by people who are bored.

I prefer to have someone
who knows what he is talking about

rather than someone
who asks me for anything

without knowing if it is possible.

Everything is desirable,
but few things are possible.

They tell you that integration
is incomplete, is impossible.

They tell you that absolute independence
is undesirable.

You have to search among the two,

and find something possible.

And something
not desirable but necessary.

Then it is necessary to organize powers
and political powers.

Right here.

It is necessary to change the structures

considering the logic of this system.

I say that we participate in two groups:

a geographical group, the Caribbean,

and a political group,

the republic, which is French.

We know that
the republic is French.

We know that, in the republic,

we must have a different status,

giving us the possibility
to assume our own responsibilities,

let's say our local responsibilities.

We must look for the means.

That is the fight of this generation.

The fight of the men of this generation.

To make them take charge,

to make them take charge
without violence and without clashes.

We are an institution
within a much larger institution.

I see that on the municipal level

I can't take the initiative
to create industries.

It's not possible.

I can manage the budget
as much as possible,

for the benefit of
working-class workers,

the most
socially disadvantaged people,

socially speaking.

But it is difficult for me
to take initiatives

that are fundamental
on the economic level.

That is up to the government

and to a small extent
to the department's council.

But the economy
of Guadeloupe in general,

being an economy of scarcity,

we participate in this
economy of scarcity as "cells".

The cause of which
are economic structures.

Instead of developing
the country's resources,

a certain number of these resources
are left aside,

to specialize in import-export,

to turn to an industry that
officials say should be a panacea,

the tourist industry,
but which is also going awry.

Because an industry conceived
in this form is an industry

that will simply allow foreign capital,
French or multinational,

to benefit from subsidies
of the local communities

to be able to make
luxurious tourist establishments

and drain these profits outside of
the country, not into the country.

Communist mayor of Point- -Pitre

It is certain that it is
not enough to create jobs

that allow everyone in
Point- -Pitre to be employed.

Or the young people who arrive on the
job market over the years must have jobs.

For the rest, our concern is
to respond to the concerns

expressed by
the President of the Republic,

who is releasing all the means
to address these difficulties, namely:

to make a real economic
departmentalization.

In short: to create here
a sufficient number of jobs

to allow the greatest number
to exercise an activity

without having to go to the big city
or to work here in an irregular way.

The young people
in the Caribbean

who've gone to look for
work in France or elsewhere,

since there are currently
some in Canada, in Germany,

In short, I am also very worried
about this kind of diaspora.

I think we can already use
the term Caribbean diaspora,

which has the advantage over
the other of involving a population

that has not had the time to structure
itself and keep a certain unity.

The city of Pointe- -Pitre runs the risk
of becoming a ghost town. It is possible.

But we are fighting
against this eventuality.

At first we fought to have housing,

now we must convince the people
that they must fight to stay here.

To stay here in decent conditions,
so there are industries and jobs.

When departmentalization opened
Guadeloupe to the rest of the nation,

there were exchanges.

So these exchanges consisted of what?

First of all, in the necessity to
provide for certain functions

that previously were not assumed,

for which Guadeloupeans were not numerous
enough and not sufficiently trained.

It's really easy to live here,
it's the charm of the West Indies.

What the hell would I do here?

I invest directly all that is needed
for the bar, the beer.

I live well,

that's all.
It doesn't go further than that.

It's true that it's pleasant,
only waking up can be much less so.

It would be absurd if,
in a country where life is so good,

life were to become unbearable.

And this is what is likely to happen.

So the situation today is that
there are a lot of Guadeloupeans

in metropolitan France,

and there are a lot of metropolitans,
relatively speaking, in Guadeloupe.

I feel like they don't like me,
they don't like us.

Why is it easy for people
from mainland France

to find a job here and not
for people from the West Indies?

Why that is, I don't know.

I came here with good intentions
but I realized that it was useless.

The problem is unemployment,

young people who have
nothing to do and nothing to lose.

They have nothing.

Caribbeans should make an effort,
because they're home,

and they should receive us almost
as a friend, which they do not do at all.

We are sometimes received
like dogs in a bowling alley.

You have about 30,000
to 40,000 Guadeloupeans

who live in metropolitan France.

If we imagined these 30,000 to
40,000 Europeans could come back

or be forced to come back to Guadeloupe
for an imaginary reason.

Imagine what their situation would be,

in a country where even today,
there is not enough work for everyone,

especially for those who stayed.

It is so true that the migration

of our European compatriots to
metropolitan France is in most cases,

except for individual circumstances,
which we shall not consider,

but except for individual accidents,
it is so true that in most cases,

all these compatriots from
Guadeloupe have decent jobs,

many of which
are in the government:

post offices, hospitals, police.

The Parisian police force now
has a good share of Guadeloupeans.

This way of seeing
leads to the conclusion

that there are too many inhabitants,
so the inhabitants must leave.

But for us what is important is to study
and then to stay in our country.

But this is where we see
that there are no solutions

and that this will not be solved
in the current society.

Because we will study here,
but when we have our diplomas,

we will be unable to work in Guadeloupe.

And we will be practically
forced to emigrate.

So there's a contradiction
that will be very hard to resolve.

The university provides training,

and this training must
correspond to opportunities,

either current
or potential opportunities.

This is why
the existence of the university

leads to posing in a concrete way,

contributes to posing in a concrete way,

the problems of development.

It is necessary to train young people,

but it is also necessary to be concerned

about the job prospects that
will be ensured by the training.

A certain number of students are
convinced that they are not fishes,

that the university or the UER of law
(training and research unit)

is not a jar or an aquarium,

and that they are not fishes in a jar.

So the solution to our specific problems

happens through the radical
transformation of this society.

And to better fight against
the administration or the rectorate,

it is necessary that
we know our country.

And to know our country is

to know the people who
actually produce in this country.

On our side,
the university has the ambition

to contribute to the knowledge of
an environment that is deeply original.

That is to say
the West Indian-Guyanese milieu.

There are professors who believe that

finally the problems
of the world of workers,

the problems of the world of agriculture
are also their own problems,

since they are Guadeloupeans,
Martinicans, Guyanese.

Therefore they have a minimum
of professional conscience,

a minimum of intellectual honesty,

and they try to analyze
their knowledge,

according to
the reality of their countries.

But they notice, when someone gives you
a course, for example on public liberties:

he is going to speak to the students
about the problems of the right to strike,

whereas he knows that
when he passes with his car,

he sees the cane fields surrounded with
red kepis, surrounded with mobile guards,

soldiers and policemen,

numerous persons entering
and leaving the university,

he knows that it is not a normal
situation of the freedom to strike.

You are obliged,
if you want to be sincere,

to say that indeed
there exists the right to strike,

theoretically it's acknowledged,
it's in books, in newspapers,

in the Constitution,
in international treaties.

But when you come to
explain to these students,

who are here and when they
leave home, they say to themselves:

This professor is telling stories.

He talks about the right to strike
and the right to work,

but there is
no work in this country.

We are obliged to leave
to find a job in France,

we must leave for Guyana,
we must go everywhere.

Finally, what do they see?

They realize that everything the
teachers say doesn't fit with reality.

It is obvious that the university
is a French institution,

and that we belong
to the French culture.

There is no problem there,
especially when it comes to language.

To speak Creole is linked to the very way
that we envisage the future of Guadeloupe

and who will be the principal actors
who will preside over future change.

Let's say that if we want to pass on
ideas that must penetrate the masses,

even if there
has been no investigation,

we must do scientific work on it
and return to it.

First of all, people will
have to understand us.

So if there was work here,

all the young people who are
leaving now, they would stay.

DOWN WITH BUMIDOM

(Bureau for the Development
of Migration in Overseas Departments)

Stop emigration!
The youth are leaving!

Work for the youth!

We do not have the right to speak.

They said we were slaves,
now I know we really are.

If everyone really understood it,
we would all go on strike,

because without our hands
the factory owner can't do anything.

If we continue like this,
always with mass movements,

we will change Guadeloupe and
we think that it must be changed.

English translation by
Liliane Liseron Landau |modified @KG

Commissioned by the Film Studies Center
at the University of Chicago, 2023

Resync and revision:
Ruy Gardnier