On 25 April 2020, in the midst of the coronavirus lockdown, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GMC) met to debate a project involving an industrial-size, open-pit gold mine in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. The name of the project is Espérance, French for “hope” – hope for whom, one might ask? Despite opposition from environmentalist organisations and local Indigenous peoples, the project was approved.

French Guyana has recently seen the largest mobilization in the history of the country. Last Saturday, 37 unions organized in the Union of Guyanese Workers (UTG), decided to call for an unlimited general strike starting on Monday, March 27th. The general strike involved almost all of the workers from the various industries.