French Guiana: Rockets and the Republic

Since March 27, a general strike and widespread protests have paralyzed French Guiana, the isolated, but strategically located French overseas department in South America. With the economy effectively ground to a halt, local leaders engaged with Paris in tense negotiations, producing an agreement April 6 on an aid package for French Guiana. Most problematic for France, rocket launches at the spaceport in Kourou — a critical hub for Europe's space ambitions — that were suspended when protest activity surged in mid-March remain on hold. While protesters occupying the spaceport dispersed after the aid deal was announced, the events unfolding in France’s largest territorial holding in the Western Hemisphere have renewed Paris' attention on the department’s strategic value as France grapples with the long-term challenge of fulfilling its republican social contract in the impoverished, far-flung entity.