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Anti-G7 protesters rally with inverted Macron portraits

Protesters hold inverted portraits of French President Emmanuel Macron as they march in Bayonne, southwestern France, on August 25, 2019, on the second day of the annual G7 summit. (Photo by AFP)

Hundreds of anti-G7 protesters have held a rally in southwestern France with inverted portraits of French President Emmanuel Macron to express dissent against his policies and those of the group’s member states, as the French leader hosts six world leaders for the 45th G7 Summit.

The protesters, who had taken down dozens of Macron’s official portraits from government buildings across the European country during the past couple of months, held the portraits upside down in their rally in Bayonne, southwestern France, on Sunday, the second day of the annual G7 summit.

The environmental activist group ANV COP 21 and the two Basque separatist groups of Alternatiba and Bizi organized the unusual climate and social justice demonstration, the so-called “portrait march.”

Despite their different demands, all protesters marched with a pledge to “take down Macron.”

“One, two, three degrees, it’s a crime against humanity!” the demonstrators chanted as they rallied through the narrow streets of Bayonne near Biarritz, a seaside town on southwestern France’s Basque coast, where world leaders are gathering for the G7 summit.

“We are holding him upside down to show the lack of sense in his policies,” said an activist from the Bizi group.

​Protestors hold inverted portraits of French President Emmanuel Macron as they march in Bayonne, southwestern France, on August 25, 2019, on the second day of the annual G7 summit. (Photo by AFP)

Other protesters were carrying wrapped-up portraits on which was written in French, English, Spanish, and Basque: “Climate, social justice: where is Macron?”

Later in the day, however, the rally in Bayonne turned violent when riot police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse the protesters.

According to officials, at least 38 people were arrested, 38 of whom were taken into custody, by Saturday evening.

Some 24,000 anti-G7 protesters had marched near the border with Spain on Saturday.

A protester lobs a canister back toward French security personnel during a demonstration in the city of Bayonne, southwest France, on August 24, 2019, on the sidelines of the annual G7 summit. (Photo by AFP)

Since Monday, activists opposing capitalism and globalization and environmentalists have rallied to express their opposition to the policies of the G7 member states in nearby Hendaye, close to the Spanish border.

Paris has deployed over 13,000 police and gendarmes to provide the security of the event amid fears of disturbances by radical anti-capitalist groups, anarchists, or the so-called “Yellow Vest” demonstrators.


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