French peasants try to block Rungis market in Paris

Paris, Feb 1 (EFE).- (Camera: Edgar Sapiña Manchado) The convoy of farmers from a minority union that was trying to block the Rungis wholesale market, south of Paris, has abandoned its objective and will return home when the 91 detainees who were arrested on Wednesday are released, a spokesperson told the media.

FOOTAGE OF FARMERS OUTSIDE RUNGIS, THE LARGEST FOOD MARKET IN EUROPE.

SOUNDBITES OF WHITMAN MAXENCE, FARMER AND ACTIVIST OF THE RURAL COORDINATION UNION:

1.- "Now they know that we know how to get there. So now we can play with that and we can say, we know how to get there, we have been there, we know how to get there, we have been there with tractors. If they say we can come with 100 or 200 we can come, that is a problem for us."

2.- "I was in police custody, so no no, we don't regret it at all, everything was fine, we all went out. So now everything is over, that's the main thing, and what they really wanted to do (the police officers ) was to scare the farmers by saying: be careful, you have been arrested, you have been taken into custody, don't come, it will be the same. Except there is a big difference between 10 tractors and 100 tractors. So we came in small numbers, maybe we shouldn't have done it, maybe we just passed by... After all a small number could have gone more unnoticed than a procession of 100 tractors, so there it is, but, in any case, we came here and we are proud of what we did."