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About 36,000 people took part in protests on Saturday in the country. However, while the turnout was lower than the previous two weekends, the protesters clashed with the police, burning cars, erecting roadblocks and inciting barricades in flames.
Dissent over rising gas prices and environmental taxes have turned the protest into a broader protest against Macron, his government, and tensions between the metropolitan elite and the rural poor.
Benjamin Griveaux, spokesman for European Radio Europe Sunday, said the government was considering "all options" to prevent "serious outbreaks of violence," including the establishment of the state's "state of affairs". ;emergency.
Griveaux said between 1,000 and 1,500 people had participated in Saturday's protests "only to fight with the police, to break up and loot". He added that these protesters "have nothing to do with yellow vests".
Yellow vests or "yellow vests" are high visibility vests that drivers in France are required to keep in their car for safety reasons, in case of breakdown of their car.
Nearly 400 people were arrested during Saturday's riots.
As part of its response, Macron has asked the Interior Ministry to develop a law enforcement plan to counter any new protests, said CNN's affiliate, BFMTV. . No date has yet been set for the meeting between Philippe and the yellow jackets, reported BFMTV.
The demonstrations were originally designed to cope with rising fuel prices. The cost of diesel jumped 16% this year, rising from an average of 1.24 euro per liter to 1.48 euro per liter (1.69 euro), even reaching 1.53 euro in October, according to UFIP, the French federation of the oil sector.
The price increase is largely caused by a jump in the wholesale price of oil. Brent oil, benchmark for global oil purchases, has risen more than 20% in the first half of 2018, rising from about $ 60 a barrel to a peak. from $ 86.07 in early October.
Macron bore the brunt of protestors' anger instead of OPEC for the reduction of oil production, or the United States for imposing tariffs on Iran, which paralyzed oil exports.
Many protesters are angry with the president for extending the environmental policies implemented by former President Francois Hollande.
President: tributes to the police
Last weekend, the demonstrations in the French capital degenerated into violence. Cars were burned down and attacks were carried out against the citizens.
The city's famous Arc de Triomphe, the focus of Saturday's violent protests, was also vandalized, covered with slogans in favor of the yellow vest movement and other critics criticizing Macron as president of the "rich" .
On his return to Paris after the G20 meeting, Macron immediately visited the war memorial to "take stock of the damage" and pay tribute to the grave of the unknown soldier at its base, CNF subsidiary BFMTV reported. . He also met with police officers and firefighters who worked to contain the protests.
Macron also held an emergency security meeting with senior officials on Sunday. In a written statement, he paid tribute to law enforcement and rescue teams who "have shown relentless courage all day and all night," according to a statement from the presidency French.
The statement also said that Macron "stressed the importance of judicial follow-up so that no acts committed go unpunished".
Rioters Arrested Must Face "Immediate Trial"
French Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet said the unrest was "absolutely unacceptable", but added that she would not yet recommend announcing the state of emergency, pointing out that there were "alternatives", without specifying what was envisaged.
"When there are releases that are absolutely unacceptable in our republic, I think about what happened in the Arc de Triomphe, when there are fires, not just cars – there are had 55 vehicles burned but also buildings burned, when there are attacks against people, including rape, I think, these are elements that can not be acceptable in our republic. "
Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz said that among the protesters were people from all over the country who went to Paris with the express intention of stirring up trouble. He added that the authorities were most harshly repressing those who joined street demonstrations that explicitly commit acts of violence.
"There are various profiles, but there are clearly profiles of people from all the French provinces, obviously to commit acts of violence, and it is to these people that the penal response, I will say, will be the strongest."
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