WEBSITE FUNDED BY THE






G20 FROM BELOW


Massive mobilization this 24th in France the streets inflict another defeat on Macron and his authoritarian offensive

Despite the bans, the unprecedented repressive apparatus, and a week of security and repressive intimidation, more than 800,000 demonstrators marched across the country this Saturday, according to the CGT.
Tristane Chalaise 24 October 2026

This mobilization inflicts another defeat on the government after October 17th and demonstrates that the authoritarian offensive is insufficient to stop the movement. We are publishing this initial assessment of the day in Spanish, originally published in French on the Revolution Permanente website.

This is another setback for Macronism: despite the government's best efforts to prevent Saturday's mobilization—through bans on demonstrations, curfews, a massive police deployment, and restrictions on access to certain urban centers and seats of power—more than 800,000 people took to the streets on October 24, according to the unions, a number equivalent to that of October 17. There were massive demonstrations in numerous cities, even where they were prohibited. Given its scale, the radical nature of its demands, and the protesters' determination to defy the bans, this mobilization expresses a will to confront the authoritarian offensive and to continue the movement until its demands are met.

Mass demonstrations across France
Videos circulating on social media show the scale of the demonstrations across France. In Paris, an impressive demonstration converged on the Porte d'Italie. According to the CGT union, nearly 250,000 people marched in the capital, a figure comparable to last Saturday's. The mobilization continued despite government attempts to suppress it. Specifically, the government banned the "Bastille-Nation" route, originally proposed by the unions, and at the last minute imposed a new itinerary between the Porte d'Italie and the Porte de Vincennes. This last-minute ban, intended to disorient the demonstrators and hinder their participation, did not prevent a massive mobilization from forming. The route imposed by the government, accepted by the union leadership, was overwhelmed by the crowds of protesters. From one of the columns, Anna* stated: "It's not even an unauthorized, wildcat demonstration; it's simply a sea of ​​people trying to join the main protest en masse."

The mobilization also included the participation of numerous high school students, university students, and recent graduates, who came to denounce the lack of resources in public education, the deterioration of study conditions, and the inequalities in access to higher education, demonstrating the vitality of the student rebellion. But beyond social and educational demands, the defense of democratic rights emerged as a central theme of the day. In Paris, several demonstrators denounced the arrests and police violence against the mobilized youth, while others emphasized that the right to demonstrate is a fundamental democratic issue, just like the right to vote. Thus, the mobilization articulated demands against the high cost of living and austerity to raise, more broadly, the issue of democratic rights and challenge the government's historical offensive in this area.

The mobilization was also significant in the rest of the country. In Toulouse, the CGT counted 80,000 demonstrators, the same number as on October 17. In Marseille, where the government concentrated its repressive offensive, the union counted 50,000 demonstrators, compared to the 17,000 reported by the prefecture. This latter figure is difficult to reconcile with the size of the march and its particularly slow progress, according to a journalist from the newspaper Le Monde. One of our activists present at the scene confirms this: “The march is immense.”

In Lyon, the mobilization reached a large scale despite the ban: according to a report in Le Monde, more than 10,000 people participated in the marches. Demonstrators were dispersed on several occasions with tear gas grenades, while Centaure armored vehicles were deployed in the area. Tear gas was also used in Lille and Limoges, while in Marseille police were seen with assault rifles. These scenes illustrate the repressive climate surrounding the mobilization and the attacks on the right to demonstrate.

In Bordeaux, the CGT, FSU, and FO unions counted 60,000 demonstrators. From 2:00 PM, the Place de la Bourse, in the heart of the city, was packed with people, despite the administrative court's confirmation of the ban on demonstrations in the city center. Despite this prohibition, many people gathered to join the mobilization.

In Nantes, more than 10,000 demonstrators took to the streets. At 2:00 PM, they made their first attempt to reach the city center, an area prohibited for marches, and faced intense repression. They finally managed to enter the city center around 3:00 PM, amidst a cloud of tear gas. In Montpellier, the prefecture counted nearly 5,000 demonstrators despite the ban. According to one of our activists present, "the repressive measures are becoming increasingly ineffective in containing the groups." Several marches formed, joined together, and then separated again.

In Orléans, the march against the National Rally (RN) saw a massive turnout, with over 26,000 people mobilized against the far right.

A victory for the people against the government, which was betting on a historic authoritarian offensive to deter the protesters.

The bans on demonstrations and gatherings, the curfews, and the exceptional deployment of more than 70,000 police officers, backed by RAID [ 1 ] , GIGN [ 2 ] , BRI [ 3 ] , and even the military from Operation Sentinelle [ 4 ] , were not enough to deter protesters from taking to the streets again this Saturday. Neither were the water cannons, the Centaure armored vehicles deployed in several cities, the hundreds of arrests last Saturday, nor the intense judicial repression that followed. Neither the threats of dissolution directed against the left and far left, nor the propaganda surrounding the "ultra-left," intended to divide and criminalize the movement, managed to quell the mobilization.

This security strategy seems to have had the opposite effect, provoking a democratic resurgence: far from deterring protesters, it contributed, in numerous demonstrations, to placing the defense of democratic rights at the heart of the mobilization. In Strasbourg, some protesters explained that they had come despite fearing police violence. In Paris, mothers and fathers joined the marches to support their children and denounce the arrests. Social demands are thus linked to democratic issues, particularly the right to demonstrate and to question government policies. At the same time, protesters defied, at least partially, the bans on demonstrations in Nantes, Lyon, Bordeaux, Lille, Metz, Tours, Montpellier, Sens, Besançon, Caen, Annonay, Lorient, and Le Havre, demonstrating their determination to confront the authoritarian offensive.

The success of the October 24th mobilization is a setback for the government and its brutal authoritarian counter-offensive. This show of collective strength opens the possibility of further expanding the mobilization, while various groups of protesters are already calling for the movement to continue on October 31st. The challenge now is to continue structuring the movement from below, building on the initiatives of interprofessional coordinating bodies and assemblies that are beginning to be built, particularly in Toulouse, and strengthening the links between mobilized youth, students and workers.

In Toulouse, the Mirail faculty building, which is currently occupied, hosted a large inter-professional assembly on Tuesday, bringing together 800 workers from various sectors of the city, including aeronautics, education, healthcare, and logistics. Together, they resolved to use the day of action called by the CGT (General Confederation of Labor) on November 5th to launch a recurring strike. This is an initiative that needs to be replicated throughout France.

The labor movement and mobilized youth must seize this momentum to build inter-professional general assemblies, coordinate initiatives, and develop grassroots mobilization, with the goal of building a far-reaching, renewable strike. While the CGT calls for “generalizing the strike on the 5th and beyond,” that date must become a new turning point to overcome the succession of isolated days of mobilization and advance toward the prospect of a political general strike capable of ousting Macron, Lecornu, and Nuñez.

For this, we need a clear program, commensurate with the social anger: massive resources for public services, a general wage increase, an immediate end to the austerity measures and offensive, the expropriation under workers' control of large capitalist groups like TotalEnergies, responsible for the price increases, and the defense of democratic rights, starting with our right to demonstrate. The brutality of the government's authoritarian offensives also reveals its weaknesses: this is an opportunity to broaden the movement and build a large, unified movement, through strikes and street protests, to win much more and achieve our demands!
https://www.laizquierdadiario.com/Masiva-movilizacion-este-24-en-Francia-la-calle-le-inflige-una-nueva-derrota-a-Macron-y-a-su

Back

[ 1 ] RAID: Recherche, Assistance, Intervention, Dissuasion (Search, Assistance, Intervention, Deterrence). Elite unit of the French National Police specializing in combating terrorism, organized crime and resolving high-risk hostage situations
[ 2 ] GIGN: National Gendarmerie Intervention Group. An elite unit of the French armed forces specializing in counter-terrorism operations, hostage rescue, crisis management, and high-risk missions both in France and abroad.
[ 3 ] BRI: Brigade de Recherche et d'Intervention. Elite unit of the French National Police specializing in the fight against organized crime, robberies and counterterrorism.
[ 4 ] Operation Sentinelle: French Armed Forces counter-terrorism military deployment created in 2015, following the Charlie Hebdo attacks, with the aim of protecting strategic points in the country and reinforcing internal security in support of the police and gendarmerie



Thanks for visting the G20 From Below Website. If you want something published here or other enquiries mailto:Brics-from-below@protonmail.com

Please Visit the BRICs from below website. The BRICs from below website was established in 2016 to news and analysis on worker and community protests in the BRICS countries and against the activities of BRICS based multinationals especially in Africa. The G20From Below website was set up in to 2025 to extened this work to the G20 countries.



Introducing BRICS from above, BRICS from the middle and BRICS from below

BRICS FROM ABOVE
Heads of state, Business Forum, elite allies
*BRICS as anti-imperialist (ANC & Pretoria rhetoric – “Talk Left, Walk Right”, e.g. national-liberation tradition, foreign ministry on global geopolitics, finance minister on IMF reform, sports minister on FIFA)
*BRICS as sub-imperialist (Pretoria relegitimising world capitalism, lubricating neoliberalism in - and exploiting - Africa, intensifying class war against SA’s poor/workers/women/nature on behalf of global/local capital, ensuring maximum greenhouse gas emissions alongside BASIC/US no matter local/continental/global consequences, and playing “deputy sheriff” role to imperialism)
*BRICS as inter-imperialist (Pretoria's potential support for a new internet delinked from US, promotion of Putin v Obama in September 2013 at G20, and mainly backing Russia in Crimea/Ukraine conflict - as well as earlier episodes where SA lined up with China in UN e.g. in relation to Burma)

BRICS FROM THE MIDDLE
Academic Forum, trade unions, NGOs
BRICS advocates (most of Academic Forum, Johannesburg & Pretoria “think tanks” and others who suffer persistent “failure of analytical nerve”)
*wait-and-see (most NGOs and trade unions - as well as “Third Worldist” intellectuals - who wish for BRICS to become “anti-impi” at UN, Bretton Woods Institutions, Development Bank, Contingent Reserve Arrangement, etc)
*critics (those associated with brics-from-below network who consider BRICS to be “sub-impis” and sometimes also “inter-impis”)

BRICS FROM BELOW
Grassroots activists whose visions run local to global
*localist (stuck within local or sectoral silos, including myriad “popcorn protests” - even some against BRICS corporations or projects - that are insurgent, unstrategic, momentary, at constant risk of becoming xenophobic, and prone to populist demagoguery)
*nationally-bound (most activists who are vaguely aware of - and hostile to - BRICS yet so overwhelmed by local, national and sectoral battles, they fail to link across borders - even BRICS hinterlands)
*solidaristic-internationalist (“global justice movement” allies aspiring for joint campaigning against common BRICS enemies such as Vale, China Development Bank, DBSA, Transnet/mega-shipping, fossil fuel corporations and other polluters, coming BRICS Development Bank)

JEALOUS PRO-WEST CAPITALISTS
Most white organic intellectuals of capital connected to Old Money, multinational-corporate branch plants, Business Day, northern-centric big biz, Democratic Alliance and their ilk.


© Copyright G20 from below