Wine-makers blamed for blast
Socialist Party offices targeted in bomb attack as anger grows over low prices and unfair competition from imports
ANGRY wine-makers in the south-west have been blamed for a bomb blast which blew apart the entrance to the Parti Socialiste offices in Carcassonne.
Graffiti was daubed on the front of the office, with the letters CAV in blue and red – standing for the Comité d'Action Viticole – and the name of Agriculture Minister Stéphane Le Foll.
Police in Perpignan, who are investigating the attack, said three men had been seen at the office before the blast around midnight on Tuesday and were then seen running away.
They said a gas canister had been used in the attack, which came just a couple of hours after the offices had been full of party members for a meeting. Windows in a school across from the office were also blown in.
Philippe Vergnes, president of the local Chambre d’Agriculture, said he thought the Socialist party office was a “disturbing” choice of target but said the wine industry in Languedoc-Roussillon was angry at low prices, unfair competition and the failure of governments to slow foreign imports.
There was also widespread anger that the National Assembly had rejected a plan for wine-growers to get a 15% advance on wine sales but this was being reintroduced in the Senate.
Mr Le Foll said he was astonished at the attack and that the government had made gains for the wine industry in EU Common Agriculture Policy negotiations.
