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Police fired tear gas and water cannons Saturday in central Paris against demonstrators "in the yellow vest" demanding French President Emmanuel Macron to reduce fuel tax increases.
Some 3,000 police officers have been deployed in the capital. Protesters who blocked France's roads last week wearing their now iconic high-visibility jacket are expected to provoke another day of unrest after calls to paralyze Paris.
According to AFP reporters, several thousand people gathered Saturday morning on the famous Champs-Elysees, where they clashed with the police to prevent them from going to the Place de la Concorde, near the Louvre Museum.
Police said protesters had repeatedly tried to break a cord, but had been prevented by the use of tear gas more than once.
"We have just demonstrated peacefully and we have had tears in our eyes," said Christophe, 49, a native of the Isere region of eastern France, with his wife to protest in his country. the capital. "We see how we are welcomed in Paris."
Paris police said Saturday's incidents were linked to "the presence of far-right members who harassed the security forces."
Protesters from the "Yellow Vest" were seen tearing up cobblestones or starting to build barricades.
Nearly 300,000 people blocked motorways, roundabouts, shops and fuel depots last Saturday. Small demonstrations continued this week. An estimated 5,000 people wearing yellow fluorescent jackets on Friday.
The protests were sparked by an increase in the diesel tax, justified by the government as an anti-pollution tax, but has since turned into a broad front of opposition to centrist Macron.
"I hope that there will be a real yellow tide," said this week one of the movement's leaders, right-wing political figure Frank Buhler, urging his supporters to come down to Paris.
But with some demonstrators hesitating at the cost of their travels in the capital, it was unclear whether the organizers would achieve their goal of creating a dead end in the city of light.
The demonstrators met Saturday morning at the Place de l'Etoile, at the top of the Avenue des Champs-Elysees, shouting "Macron's resignation".
More than 35,000 people pledged to Facebook to gather on Concorde Square, a rally banned by the authorities because of its proximity to the presidential palace.
– The protesters' demonized & # 39; –
The police had cordoned off Saturday morning the area including the Place de la Concorde, the National Assembly and a section of Avenue des Champs-Elysees.
"In this zone, no demonstration, no gathering, no walk related to" yellow vests "can take place," said the head of the Paris police, Michel Delpuech.
He added that mobile police units backed by helicopters were ready to intervene in the event of violence or an attempt to block the Paris ring road.
The Paris authorities have authorized a demonstration in a park near the Eiffel Tower.
"The government has done everything possible to demonize the movement that will take place in Paris," said Clement Jonie, joining protesters gathered in western Paris on Saturday morning.
"We hear the members of the LREM (government) say" we will stay the course "but the movement is running, it is not ready to stop," said the 47-year-old logistician, arrived from the suburbs.
Two people died and more than 750 people, including 136 police officers, were injured during the week of demonstrations, which highlighted the frustration over stagnant spending power and the reduction of public services in some parts of France.
Friday night, a man armed with an explosive device asked the protesters to meet the French president and went to the police in Angers, in western France.
"He asked that the yellow vests be received at the Elysee," told AFP local prosecutor Yves Gambert.
Bernard Gonzalez, local manager, said: "There was a real risk, a real danger, he had an explosive charge around his neck … This was not a fake."
– "Wrestling and fed up" –
The former investment banker Macron was elected on a promise to put more money in the pockets of workers but the effects of his reforms on the power of buying – still shown as l & rsquo; One of the biggest concerns of the French – have been limited.
The poor and low paid are particularly exasperated by its decision to raise anti-pollution taxes on diesel and gasoline, while removing a wealth tax from the rich.
Opposition parties from left to right and right wing applauded protesters, whose revolt was described as "justified" by 77% of those polled in an Odoxa poll for the newspaper Le Figaro.
"It's the cry of a struggling and struggling France," said Jordan Bardella, spokesman for the far-right National Rally (the former National Front) .
Macron, which is under pressure to fight against pollution before the elections to the European Parliament in which the environment should occupy a prominent place, refused to back down to tax polluters.
But with his notes languishing at record lows of less than 30%, he sought to present a more empathic side.
Next week, he will unveil a new energy plan to make the transition to cleaner energy and fuel more "acceptable".
"We have heard the message from the citizens," said one of his aides Thursday.
Tax revolts have been a feature of French public life for centuries – citizens pay one of the highest percentages of Europe as a percentage of GDP – while protests against fuel prices are commonplace.
French police fired tear gas and water cannons at protesters in central Paris, calling on President Emmanuel Macron to raise taxes on motor corns
The demonstrators met Saturday morning at the Place de l'Etoile, at the top of the Avenue des Champs-Elysees, shouting "Macron's resignation".
The police had cordoned off Saturday morning the area including the Place de la Concorde, the National Assembly and a section of Avenue des Champs-Elysees.
Two people died and more than 750 people were injured during the week of demonstrations, which highlighted the frustration with stagnant spending power and reduced public services.
Protesters in France are unhappy with an increase in the diesel tax, justified by a levy anti-pollution by the government
