De Gaulle's Western Outpost

Most of the Caribbean islands throb to the rallying cries of independence and nationalism. But the French West Indies -- Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Guadeloupe's six dependencies -- seem as placid as the emerald waters that lap their pearl-white beaches. In the westernmost backwater of Charles de Gaulle's French community 4,250 miles from Paris, natives and tourists sit at sunny, sidewalk tables placidly nibbling crusty French bread and sipping flat French beer; in narrow streets, the scent of bougainvillaea mingles with the fumes of beeping Simcas and Peugeots. And when le grand Charles stops over in Guadeloupe and Martinique this week on the way to and from his four-day visit to Mexico, he will find that the populace -- even the Communists -- are anx ious to maintain ties with France, not to sever them.

The French West Indies were not al ways so serene. Discovered by Columbus in 1493, they proved a strategic gateway to the Caribbean, provoking a bloody succession of wars between the Spanish, English, Dutch and French. Though France finally won the precious necklace of islands in 1815, it was not until 1946 that the colonies became fullfledged departments of metropolitan France. Since then Paris has pumped in funds for new schools, roads, hospitals and public buildings. But while the islands' few small industries--sugar, bananas, pineapple and rum--expanded rapidly, wages stayed low and employment failed to keep pace with a 3% birth rate; 290,000 people are crowded onto tiny Martinique (425 sq. mi.), 280,000 on Guadeloupe (687 sq. mi.).

Violence finally erupted in 1951, when unemployed slum dwellers in Martinique staged ugly riots that left three dead and scores injured. France quickly poured in more money, by last year had boosted its annual aid to $135 million, 40% of the islands' gross national product. There is still occasional unrest. Last year police picked up 18 Martiniquans who were involved in a half-baked secessionist plot to overthrow the local government. However, the great majority of islanders are strongly Gaullist in their politics and are well aware that French aid is their only realistic hope of raising living standards.

De Gaulle's three-day visit, his first in four years, was planned to be as informal as the French West Indies them selves. He scheduled a few speeches, a few toasts, quiet nights at the homes of the Guadeloupe and Martinique prefects, and a quick side trip down to French Guiana, perched on the northeast shoulder of South America. The islands may get no more aid, but De Gaulle's visit has already yielded one happy dividend. The Fort-de-France government house in Martinique just got its first lick of paint in 30 years.

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