FORT-DE-FRANCE, Martinique - February 26, 2009 - Vandals burnt cars and looted shops in Martinique as violence spread to a second French Caribbean island in protests over high prices, low pay and alleged neglect by Paris. About twenty people were detained after the outburst in Fort-de-France, the capital.

Martinique has not suffered the same degree of violence as the nearby French island of Guadeloupe, where strikes degenerated last week into rioting in which a labor activist was shot dead. Business on both islands has been largely frozen.

President Sarkozy announced a €580 million (£515 million) package last week to help the Caribbean regions of his country and acknowledged that prices were often much higher there than in France. Strikers have complained that the government proposals are vague and do not address their demand for higher pay.

Business representatives, labor unions and government officials on both islands have been meeting intermittently to try to end the strike, but no agreements have been reached.