PARIS (AP) — Paris’ main museums closed their doors and authorities deployed large police forces for a series of new protests Saturday across France, hoping to prevent a repeat of the phenomenon. the violent unrest of last week it shocked the country.
Scenes of looting, burning cars and attacks on public buildings gave the impression that the government had lost control, as groups of masked vandals attacked businesses in Paris and other city centers.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said up to 70,000 police officers would be deployed across the country, along with helicopters, armored vehicles and water cannons.
Massive turnout is expected again after more than half a million people took to the streets last week.
Museums are closed and traders are worried
Major museums including the Louvre, the Orsay Museum, the Picasso Museum and the Grand Palais – where a major Cézanne exhibition is presented – are closed Saturday. Art Basel, one of the world’s most prestigious contemporary art fairs, opened its doors to the public on Friday, but only for the day, as the threat of unrest prompted organizers to cancel the weekend program.
Parisian merchants barricaded their stores all week. Near Place de la République in Paris, one of last weekend’s hotspots, a bank branch and other businesses were barricaded with wooden panels to deter potential looters.
Following the unrest, Paris police chief Patrice Faure urged Parisian traders to hire security guards. He then clarified that the protection of business owners and their establishments is the responsibility of the government.
Some 3,000 stores across France were damaged or looted last weekend.
Some demonstrations were banned
Demonstrations are planned in Paris and Marseille, but other gatherings, notably in Lyon, Nice and Montpellier, have been banned by local authorities. Cities outside Paris were hit hard by the unrest. In Limoges, a suspected arson attack nearly destroyed the 19th-century town hall.
Unions have criticized the bans, calling them violations of constitutionally protected freedom of expression.
President Emmanuel Macroncentrist, entered crisis in the latter part of his term, with his popularity at its lowest point since taking office in 2017. He said measures were needed to protect city centers, businesses and public buildings.
Saturday’s protest in Orléans, about 110 kilometers south of Paris, will also be closely monitored.
Around fifty organizations have called for demonstrations against the far right on the sidelines of the two-day congress of Marine Le Pen’s nationalist and anti-immigration party, in the run-up to next spring’s presidential election. Organizers include unions, left-wing parties, student and anti-racist groups.
Students and workers are angry
THE demonstrations first broke out last month at a high school in the southeast of Paris due to a lack of staff.
From there, class boycotts and protests spread to other Parisian suburbs and across the country, including small towns. High school students have raised concerns about underfunding of schools and staffing shortages, particularly in low-income neighborhoods. Some have also called for reform of the college admissions system, seen by many as unfair.
With the government seemingly unable to meet students’ demands, the movement morphed into larger protests against the soaring cost of living just months before the vote choose Macron’s successor.
“Money is now concentrated in the hands of very few people,” said Victoria Ambrosini, an art critic and art professor at Saint-Denis University. “And that’s no longer possible.”
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