The May 1967 massacre in Guadeloupe

Abstract

On 26 May 1967, French police opened fire on striking workers in Pointeà-Pitre, Guadeloupe, sparking a major uprising across the city. According to officials at the time, eight Guadeloupeans were killed during the unrest and many more were injured. However, a state cover-up means we may never know the true death toll. The French government blamed the violence on a clandestine independence movement (GONG) and tried nineteen activists before the French court of state security for threatening the territorial integrity of the French Republic. Fifty years later, the massacre has received little acknowledgement outside Guadeloupe. This paper will argue that a clearer understanding of the May 1967 massacre and its legacy demonstrates that Guadeloupe is not an anomaly, disconnected from twentieth-century decolonization. Instead, this event highlights the failures of nationalist movements in Guadeloupe and draws links to other struggles for self-determination in the Caribbean and Algeria, situating Guadeloupe within the wider narrative of global decolonization.