SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
There are some 70,000 police on the streets in French cities today, including elite units, to try to make sure another round of protests do not turn violent. Last week, the destruction and looting on the periphery of demonstrations shocked the world. President Emmanuel Macron has been widely criticized for letting the protests get out of hand. The protest began with students demanding better schools. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley joins us from Paris. Eleanor, thanks for being with us.
ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: You're welcome, Scott.
SIMON: We can hear the protests around you. What are you seeing?
BEARDSLEY: Well, absolutely. There's just like this thick, coarse stream of protesters going down this boulevard. I've kind of pulled back to a side street. But there are just thousands - tens of thousands of people, young, old, a lot of young, but middle-aged. Today is actually being led by the yellow vest. That's that white working-class movement that dogged Macron - President Emmanuel Macron during his first term.
They and others like union workers and public sector workers have joined the student movement, which began for more teachers and better facilities, but it's ballooned into a much wider movement against the high cost of living and inequalities. Everyone is carrying, like, a lot of signs against Macron. There's, you know - it's a very lively protest. And I spoke with 16-year-old Eloin Kuge (ph). He was out with his mother. He was actually dressed as a big banana, he said, to have fun. Here he is.
ELOIN KUGE: Everyone in France is angry, and it's today that it shows it (ph).
SIMON: And President Macron met with students for the first time. Why did it take so long?
BEARDSLEY: Yeah. Macron has been criticized for being absent from this crisis. He flew to the Gulf right after last week's destruction. You know, he was going there to get more oil for the country, he said, but he sort of - you know, he was absent, and he let his prime minister handle things. He's being - he's very isolated now. And the more unpopular he has become at home over the last few years, the more his focus has been on, for example, strengthening the European Union or rallying for the defense of Ukraine. But back in France, he's being blamed for everything by the far left and the far right. His term ends next spring, and he can't seek reelection. So there's really a feeling of fin de regime, the end of his reign.
He did not see this movement coming. The students now want 10 billion euros for education, which is not possible. France is in a very precarious position with unprecedented debt, partly from, you know, keeping businesses alive during COVID and shielding people from high energy costs. Now it has this big debt, the highest borrowing costs in Europe. You know, Macron told the students there would be better dialogue with them, but that doesn't seem to be enough. And young people have only known Macron, many of these young people. So there's a lot of frustration.
SIMON: Let me ask about the far-right party of Marine Le Pen. She has condemned the violence. Does she seem to be getting a political boost from all this?
BEARDSLEY: I would say absolutely. You know, Scott, polls show her National Rally Party in the No. 1 position right now. She would be president if the election were held tomorrow. And the French who are sitting home and watching their TV screens in this violence, they're shocked, and a lot of them are contemplating voting for her. She says Macron's government has completely lost control. She called the situation, quote, "budgetary, security and immigration chaos" (ph).
Now, today, her party, the National Rally, is having a big party congress in the town - the city of Orleans, which is a couple hours south of Paris. And outside the conference, there are tens of thousands of protesters who are against her and what they call her racist policies. And, you know, when Macron was elected in 2017, he said he would make sure that the French would never have a reason to vote for the far right again. And, Scott, it seems like just the opposite has happened.
SIMON: Government has put curfews in place in dozens of cities this weekend, including parts of Paris. What's the reaction?
BEARDSLEY: Oh, I mean, people are really kind of shocked, and it's really rare. I've never - in 23 years I don't feel like I've ever seen a curfew and banned protests. In many cities, protests were actually banned today, but I'm seeing on TV skirmishes, like in Lyon and Lille - and even in Paris they changed the route of the protest march. So there's been confusion. And these restrictions are creating tensions, and many are charging that the government is trying to crack down on basic freedoms.
But people are scared of the violence. You know, just yesterday in a small town, a guy pulled out a rifle and shot and killed somebody and wounded others. It's being investigated as a terrorist attack, and President Macron condemned it as an attack motivated by racism. There are real fears this country is falling into a spiral of violence ahead of a very contentious presidential election in six months.
SIMON: Eleanor Beardsley in Paris. Thanks so much.
BEARDSLEY: Thank you, Scott. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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