French drivers block oil depots to protest fuel price hikes

FAN Editor
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Demonstrators block cars in Bayonne, southwestern France, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2018. One protester was killed and 227 other people were injured — eight seriously — at roadblocks set up around villages, towns and cities across France on Saturday as citizens angry with rising fuel taxes rose up in a grassroots movement, posing a new challenge to beleaguered President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Photo/Bob Edme)

French drivers are blocking oil depots as they try to keep up pressure on the government to abandon fuel tax hikes.

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Scattered road blockades have continued since mass protests Saturday that left one protester dead and hundreds injured. A security official said Monday that about 30 people were arrested overnight as police tried to clear out protesters.

Protest representative Benjamin Cauchy said on RMC radio that drivers are blocking about 10 oil depots Monday and demanding a freeze on taxes he says disproportionately hurt the working class.

Local French media also reported road blockades Monday at sites from Verdun in the northeast to Bordeaux in the southwest.

The protests reflect broader frustration at President Emmanuel Macron, whose government is sticking to the fuel tax rise as part of efforts to clean up the environment.

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