파리는 지난 주 두번 불탔다. 주말에 노란조끼 시위대 200여명이 경찰에 체포되었다. 월요일은 노트르담 성당이 불타고, 5일 후에는 가난한 프랑스인들과 부자 프랑스인들 사이 갈등의 화염이 이 파리 시내를 뒤덮었다. 파리 소방관들은 성당 화재 진압을, 이제는 노란 조끼 (질레 존) 시위대, 무정부주의자들의 화재를 진압하고 있다.
불탄 노트르담 성당보다 경제적 불평등에 고통받는 프랑스인들이 더 중요하다고 노란 조끼 시위대들은 외쳤다.
수리 보수가 필요한 5500개 프랑스 성당에 기부금을 내지 않던 구찌 입생로랑 회장은 1억 유로, 루이뷔통 아르노 회장은 2억 유로를 기부하겠다고 했다. 세금감면 혜택이 60%라서 국세 낭비라는 지적도 있다.
마크롱 긴축정책과 유류세 인상 등에 반대하는 노란조끼 시위대들은 이러한 프랑스 부자들의 위선과 이중성을 꼬집었다.
마크롱과 유명 브랜드 자본가들이 "가난하고 비참한 레 미제라블" 프랑스인들에게는 아무것도 기여하지 않고, 노트르담 성당 화재 복원 기부로써, 정치적 무책임과 위선을 드러냈다고 비난했다.
특히 42세 마크롱 대통령은 작년 11월 이후 유류세 인상에 반발하는 저소득층의 반발을 잠재우려고, 노트르담 성당 복원을 프랑스 '민족적 통일성 고취' 계기로 이용하려고 했다. 그러나 이번 주말 시위로 다시 마크롱의 정책적 실패는 도마위에 올랐다.
노트르담 성당 복원도 마크롱은 5년 안에 끝내겠다고 장담했지만, 문화재 복원 전문가들은 마크롱 주장에 대해 의구심을 보내고 있다.
결론적으로 마크롱의 '긴축정책', 복지삭감, 저소득층에게는 경제적 부담을 지우는 유류세 인상 등과 같은 정책적 실패를 '노트르담 성당' 화재 기회로 반전을 꾀하려고 했던 마크롱이 다시 정치적 위기에 봉착했다.
Millions for Notre Dame – but nothing for us, say gilets jaunes
The Observer
Angelique Chrisafis in Paris
Sat 20 Apr 2019 17.16 BST First published on Sat 20 Apr 2019 17.14 BST
Riot police and protesters have fought running battles in the centre of Paris as gilets jaunes anti-government demonstrators in fluorescent yellow vests led street marches over what they called “a crisis” of high taxes and economic inequality.
Less than a week after the fire that destroyed the roof and spire of Notre Dame Cathedral, firefighters rushed to put out multiple small fires around the Place de la République, as motorbikes, bins, bicycles and cars were set alight on roads and pavements. Groups of masked men threw projectiles and police fired teargas. Some rioters in masks smashed the window of a sports shop and ran in to loot it, emerging with bags full of goods.
The interior minister, Christophe Castaner, said on Saturday that Paris could become “the capital of rioting”, suggesting extremist demonstrators planned to attend the street marches. Politicians from Emmanuel Macron’s La République En Marche party said “black bloc” masked anarchist protesters were present.
The street demonstrations had begun peacefully in Paris on Saturday morning – the latest in five months of gilets jaunes demonstrations that began as a fuel-tax revolt in November and have morphed into an anti-protest movement in response to the government’s tax and social policies.
Marching from outside the economy ministry, protesters calmly carried French flags with slogans against Macron written on their yellow vests, such as: “Macron, you take from the poor to give to the rich.”
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Some carried banners slamming the “hypocrisy” of wealthy billionaires pledging a total of more than €1bn (£865m) to rebuild Notre Dame Cathedral, saying business leaders had done nothing to address low salaries and the plight of people who couldn’t make ends meet. “Humans first, €1bn for the gilets jaunes,” read one banner.
“Millions for Notre Dame, what about for us, the poor?” read a sign worn by a demonstrator. “Everything for Notre Dame, nothing for Les Misérables,” read another sign that evoked Victor Hugo’s novel.
Riot police fire teargas at protesters.
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Riot police fire teargas at protesters. Photograph: Julien de Rosa/EPA
Many protesters said they were frustrated that the international effort to help the fire-damaged cathedral had eclipsed their yellow vest movement against wealth inequality.
In the early afternoon, police clashed with protesters near Place de la République in central Paris. The area was saturated with teargas and men, many with their faces wrapped in bandanas, began pulling individual motorbikes into roads and torching them, the air thick with smoke. Some bins and bicycles were also torched.
Five days after 500 Paris firefighters had battled for nine hours to contain the Notre Dame blaze, fire officers worked to put out the multiple small street fires.
By mid-afternoon, the Paris police issued an appeal on social media for peaceful yellow vest demonstrators to leave Place de la République in order to clearly distance themselves from masked rioters. Police fired teargas and stun grenades and a water cannon was used.
One banner on a statue in Place de la République read “Vive Assange”, expressing support for Julian Assange after his arrest by British police earlier this month.
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By 5pm, as hundreds remained in the area, the main square was largely calm, with occasional clashes between police and demonstrators on side streets. Police began moves to clear the remaining crowds.
Meanwhile, a second, authorised peaceful yellow vest protest marched from the northern edge of Paris down to the centre.
Paris police said authorities detained more than 200 people on Saturday and had carried out spot checks of more than 17,000 people who had tried to enter the capital for the protests before the demonstrations or attempted to join them.
The interior ministry said the numbers of demonstrators was up on the previous Saturday, estimating that more than 27,900 people had marched across France, with 9,000 in Paris.
When Notre Dame cathedral caught fire on Monday night, the centrist French president Macron cancelled a speech in which he was to make policy announcements aimed at calming the yellow vest movement. He will instead give a long press conference on Thursday – the first since he was elected two years ago.
“We’re waiting for strong measures from the government that we still haven’t seen, and there’s an urgency to act on democracy, tax, society and the environment,” said one yellow vest protester in Paris.