Jean-Victor Castor (born 21 April 1962) is a French politician who was elected to represent French Guiana's 1st constituency in the 2022 legislative election. He is a member of the Decolonization and Social Emancipation Movement (MDES), a pro-independence party. He succeeded Lénaïck Adam, a member of

La République En Marche! Renaissance (RE) is a political party in France that is typically described as liberal and centrist or centre-right. The party was originally known as (EM) and later (, LREM, LaREM or REM), before adopting its current name in September 2022 ...

Early life and background

Castor was born in Sinnamary,

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

on 21 April 1962. Born to two teachers, Castor was the seventh born child of a family of eight children. Castor studied in

Cayenne Cayenne (; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Caye ...

during his youth, and at age 16 became involved in

student activism Student activism or campus activism is work by students to cause political, environmental, economic, or social change. In addition to education, student groups often play central roles in democratization and winning civil rights. Modern stu ...

. He later studied in

Metropolitan France Metropolitan France ( or ), also known as European France (), is the area of France which is geographically in Europe and chiefly comprises #Hexagon, the mainland, popularly known as "the Hexagon" ( or ), and Corsica. This collective name for the ...

before returning to Guiana, where he would campaign for the Union of Guyanese Students (UEG).

Career

Activism and journalism

In 1985, he was one of the founders of '' Rot Kozé'', which was created shortly after the founding of the Decolonization and Social Emancipation Movement (MDES). Castor later organized with the Union of Guyanese Workers and the Unified Trade Union Movement. In 2012, he became secretary-general of the MDES.

National Assembly of France

In the 2022 legislative election, Castor ran to represent French Guiana's 1st constituency in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

. In the first round of the election, he came in second place with 17.30% of the vote, with Yvane Goua of

La France Insoumise La France Insoumise (LFI or FI; , ) is a left-wing political party in France. It was launched in 2016 by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, then a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and former co-president of the Left Party (PG). It aims to implement th ...

coming in first with 20.77% of the vote. As a candidate, he was supported by the

New Anticapitalist Party The New Anticapitalist Party ( , NPA ) is a far-left political party in France founded in February 2009. The party launched with 9,200 members and was intended to unify the fractured movements of the French radical Left, and attract new activ ...

(NPA). He decided to join the GDR (Gauche Démocratique et Républicaine) parliamentary group, which includes twelve PCF MPs and ten MPs from the French overseas territories. On May 4, 2023, a parliamentary day reserved for his GDR group, he presented a bill to repeal compulsory anti-Covid vaccinations for healthcare workers. This proposal was adopted by the Assembly, against the advice of the government, which was in favor of simply suspending the obligation. The newspaper Marianne says that he traveled twice, in July and November 2023, all expenses paid, to

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

for a conference on the fight against "colonialism". Azerbaijan wanted to make France pay for its support of

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

in the conflict between the two countries. A country whose interference in France's overseas territories has been documented. In February 2024, he and Davy Rimane welcomed pan-Africanist and black supremacist activist Kémi Séba.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castor, Jean-Victor Living people 1962 births People from Sinnamary French trade unionists Deputies of the 16th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Members of Parliament for French Guiana