Pointe-à-Pitre (AFP) – Defenders of the memory of slavery throw flowers into the sea in Pointe-à-Pitre, where the sailboats of the Route du Rhum will arrive, the regatta that follows the same trajectory as the ships of the slave trade.

First modification: 07/11/2026 - 14:25

Friday's intimate ceremony in honor of the slaves, organized by the slavery museum, was the first of its kind to coincide with the legendary transatlantic regatta between Saint-Malo (northwest France) and Guadeloupe, created in 1978.

"It's about looking at the Atlantic in a different way and (...) remembering that it is the scene of sporting exploits, but also of one of the greatest tragedies in human history," explained Isabelle Vestris, director of the Caribbean Center for the Expression and Memory of Trafficking and Slavery, the Memorial ACTe (MACTe), during the ceremony.

The queen of transatlantic sailing regattas is preparing to see nearly a hundred boats arrive in a few weeks, before the finish line closes on December 3.

Each edition of the test provokes criticism from activists. The Nou Las Palé collective ("Tired of talking" in Creole), mobilized for several weeks around the numerous problems of the territory, including the high cost of living, even threatened to disrupt the end of the event.

Lack of recognition

Some denounce the imbalance between the millions of euros generated by the regatta and the lack of financing for the archipelago's infrastructure, such as the running water network.

Others regret the lack of recognition of the slave period. "The crossing of the Atlantic is celebrated, simply forgetting that, two centuries before, other sailboats were already sailing that ocean with very sad cargoes," a member of the group recently wrote on social networks.

"The organization of the regatta never addresses these memorial issues, there has never been a minute of silence or information for the skippers of the boats on this issue," denounces Myriam Cottias, historian and director of the International Research Center on Slavery and Post-Slavery, questioned by AFP.

"The cultivation of sugar cane used to make rum produced slavery," he recalls.

From the organizing company of the Rum Route, OC Sport Pen Duick, they defend themselves by using the argument of the "first vocation" of the regatta: sport and adventure at sea.

Flowers and poem

"We understand that the history of Saint-Malo, Guadeloupe and more broadly of transatlantic exchanges may raise questions about the memorial dimension of the event", however declares the organizing company, specifying that it remains "attentive to the initiatives undertaken by researchers who have the necessary legitimacy" to address these issues.

In Saint-Malo, an hour before the departure of the ships on November 1, the association Mémoire et Partage (Memory and Repartition, in French), which promotes memory work on slavery and colonization, threw a wreath into the sea before a handful of people gathered.

"At the moment when the sailboats launch towards Guadeloupe, we want to place a flower in the Atlantic and remember the lives swallowed up by the slave trade," declared Karfa Diallo, founder of the association.

This Friday, in Guadeloupe, the commemoration was also intimate: just a class of high school students to recite a poem and some officials present to throw the flowers into the water.

"It is the second edition of the Rum Route that MACTe hosts and this has provoked many discussions," recalls Raphaël Lapin, president of the board of directors of the national museum, which, during the festivities linked to the regatta, offers conferences on memory.

"This shows that there is a challenge of cultural cooperation" between the world of sports and the museum," he concludes.

© 2026 AFP

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