Economics lecturer: France knowingly used hazardous pesticide in Guadeloupe

Economics lecturer Philippe Verdol has said that France knowingly used a cancer-linked pesticide in Guadeloupe, causing long-term harm to public health and the environment.

Speaking during the third panel session titled "Towards the Decolonization of Guadeloupe! Challenges and Perspectives" conference in Baku on June 25, Verdol accused France of using chlordecone—a chlorine-based pesticide recognized for its severe health risks, Caliber.Az reports via local media. 

“Chlordecone is a chlorine-based pesticide that can cause poisoning and trigger cancer. France used it in Guadeloupe, and its effects are still impacting the gene pool,” Verdol stated.

He highlighted that the World Health Organisation (WHO) classifies chlordecone as a serious health hazard.

“Nonetheless, France used it in banana cultivation. During heavy rains, the pesticide would wash into the sea, causing severe environmental damage,” he added. 

Baku, which has become a hub for decolonization dialogues, is hosting an international thematic conference dedicated to Guadeloupe, which remains under France's colonial rule.  

The conference, titled "Towards the Decolonization of Guadeloupe! Challenges and Perspectives," is jointly organized by the Baku Initiative Group (BIG), the People's Union for the Liberation of Guadeloupe (UPLG), the Guadeloupe International Movement for Reparations (MIR-Guadeloupe), the International Committee of Black Peoples (CIPN), and the Movement for the Birth of the Guadeloupe Nation (FKNG).  

The event brings together leaders of political parties and movements advocating for Guadeloupe's independence, heads of non-governmental organizations, representatives of academia, and others. The Secretary of the International Decolonization Front, established in Baku in July 2024 with the support of the Baku Initiative Group, will deliver a presentation at the conference.  

The conference focuses on critical issues, including the status of Guadeloupe as an overseas department of France, which restricts the people's right to freely determine their political future; colonial crimes; historical injustices; the extermination of the indigenous Kalinago people; the exploitation of workers; and the existence of administrative and economic structures that perpetuate inequality and dependency.  

Other key topics include how the departmental status sustains colonial practices, contributing to unemployment, mass emigration of youth, social inequality, economic dependence, violence, environmental pollution, and the devastating impact of the toxic chemical pesticide chlordecone in Guadeloupe.   The conference also features in-depth discussions on bringing the Guadeloupean people's right to self-determination to the agenda of international organizations, utilizing the United Nations' legal mechanisms on decolonization, and addressing France’s non-compliance with relevant UN resolutions and the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.

By Naila Huseynova