People blocking roads are breaking the law. A couple of buses and a dozen Gendarmes could have solved the problem in an hour.
Do you know for a fact that there was no permit for the demonstration. How do you know is was illegal. Do you know the laws in France? What would a couple of buses have done. Plowed through the protesters? And 12 gendarmes against 100's of protesters. Who do you think will win and what will the consequences have been. Unfortunately violence by either side would not have solved anything and I for one am glad that the protest ended peacefully and things got back to normal with no one getting hurt. It is a good example that St. Martin can have a protest without it turning into a riot and looting.
JUDGING WITHOUT KNOWING THE FACTS...Some of the online comments I read from tourists condemning the protest action made me heartsick. Their attitudes were ignorant with no understanding of the situation at all. All I kept hearing is these people should realize how much they are damaging tourism.Unfortunately what some tourists want is a fairy tale island where real problems do not occur. The remarks yesterday from some of them showed their true colours and it was not pretty.
