Juli Simond

In the spring of 2022, a set of advertisements appeared in the Paris Metro and in cities throughout France. The ads showed a cartoon of a stereotypically French man or woman, in a beret and striped shirt. Under the figure’s arm, where a baguette should have been: an enormous banana. In large red, white and blue letters: LA FRENCH BANANE. The bananas depicted were French in the sense that, as indicated in small letters at the bottom of the ads, they came from Guadeloupe and Martinique.

03.25.2024 Chlordecone, a carcinogen used in pesticides, courses through the veins of nearly every resident of Guadeloupe and Martinique. Now, France faces an international human rights complaint for its role in the crisis. For the French territory of Guadeloupe, the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown came with a 40-day water shortage that hit villages across the island. While investigating this water crisis, international lawyer Sabrina Cajoly witnessed a woman have a miscarriage.

Todo empezó como un principio de agotamiento a finales de 2019. A Patrick Dantin le resultaba difícil trabajar en las plantaciones o realizar las tareas domésticas. Josette Dantin pensaba que a su marido le pasaba algo muy grave, pero los médicos de la caribeña isla de Martinica afirmaban lo contrario. Durante unas vacaciones en Normandía, se dio cuenta con consternación de que su esposo ya no podía caminar y finalmente insistió en otra opinión médica en la Francia metropolitana.