La pandémie de covid-19 en Guyane, un révélateur des tensions propres à une société ultramarine

Abstract

Guyana’s overseas community shares a border with the second most affected country in the world: Brazil. Relatively little affected at the start, there was a worsening of its health situation in this country in May 2020, then in March 2021, despite the closure of its borders decided by the national authorities. This caused a questioning of the competences of the state services of the party as well as part of the population and of the political class, as well as a certain stigmatisation of the population of Brazilian origin. The conditional authorisation of carnival parades during Shrove Days highlighted the contradictions running through Guyanese society in the face of this pandemic, between denouncing insufficient protection or, on the contrary, considered colonial, and the desire for liberalisation in the name of culture and Guyanese identity, which were not without consequences for the regional elections of 2021.

Keywords

• pandemic
• French overseas
• boundary