Ambulance workers face riot police officers outside the National Assembly in Paris, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. Ambulance workers took to the streets and gathered close to the National Assembly in downtown Paris to complain about changes to working conditions as French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe is holding crisis talks with representatives of major political parties in the wake of violent anti-government protests that have rocked Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
PARIS (AP) – The French government caved in after Paris’ worst rioting in decades and delayed an increase in energy taxes Tuesday – but it was seen as “too little, too late” by many protesters whose anger seems increasingly focused on embattled President Emmanuel Macron.
Demonstrators were back in the streets wearing their signature yellow vests. They blocked several fuel depots and, on a highway near the southern city of Aubagne, commandeered a toll booth to let motorists pass for free near a sign reading “Macron dictator.”
The protests began Nov. 17 with motorists upset over the fuel tax increase, but have grown to encompass a range of complaints – the stagnant economy, social injustice and France’ tax system, one of the highest in Europe – and some now call for the government to resign.
Last weekend, more than 130 people were injured and 412 arrested in rioting in the French capital. Shops were looted and cars torched in plush neighborhoods around the famed Champs-Elysees Avenue. The Arc de Triomphe was sprayed with graffiti and vandalized.
Four people have been killed, officials said, and more protests are planned for this weekend.