France records 4th consecutive Saturday of protests; 'long live Lula', says opposition leader

Tens of thousands of people protested for the fourth consecutive Saturday in France, where the government called meetings for next week with unions, employer representatives and students, in order to discuss demands for salary increases and better conditions in secondary schools.

Center-right President Emmanuel Macron faces a turbulent end to his term, marked by protests, almost six months before the French choose his successor. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen leads voting intention polls.

In one of the events, French leftist leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon asked his supporters not to resign themselves to a victory for Le Pen, remembering the recent defeats of Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro.

"Trump was defeated [in the midterm elections] in the United States, and Bolsonaro was defeated [in the presidential election] in Brazil. Long live Lula! It's our turn to change history," Mélenchon said in front of thousands of supporters in Le Bourget, north of Paris.

This Saturday's mobilization (7) takes place two days after a contingent of 575 thousand to 1.6 million people took to the streets, on Thursday (5), responding to a call from the unions, to demand better salaries and an increase in purchasing power, in addition to expressing support for students who, since mid-September, have been denouncing the lack of teachers, deteriorated school facilities and an opaque university admission system.

"Today is a date that allows us to maintain the pressure", said the Student Union spokesperson, Sabrine Kharbach, highlighting that education unions have called for a new strike and protests for next Tuesday (10).

After Thursday's demonstrations, the government announced a "social conference" for next Monday (9), with the participation of unions and employer representatives, focused on issues of purchasing power and wages. Meetings with student organizations are also planned for that same day.

In Paris, this Saturday's demonstration ran through the center of the capital, between the Republic and Nation squares, in a festive atmosphere.

Although the Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, mobilized 70,000 agents again to avoid the scenes of chaos recorded on October 17, the authorities found that mobilization was "clearly falling".

In Paris, 46,000 protesters took to the streets, according to the police.

Unlike previous Saturdays, the Yellow Vest movement, which already shook Macron's first term in 2018 and 2019, protested separately.

In the capital, the group called for a rally in Praça da Concordia, despite the police ban. Dozens of people responded to the call to protest in this central square, located close to the headquarters of the French Presidency, and one of its leaders was detained in the vicinity of the National Assembly (the Lower Chamber), found a journalist from the AFP agency.