‘An unwanted military excursion’: an army trail in Larzac worries farmers
About thirty people, farmers and residents of Larzac, demonstrated this Wednesday afternoon in front of the town hall of Millau. They wanted to denounce “an excursion called a walking race” organized on October 3 by the Legion on a route of about forty kilometers on the plateau.
Worried. The thirty people, farmers and residents of Larzac mobilized this Wednesday afternoon in front of the town hall of Millau wanted to express their concern about what is judged as an “unwanted military excursion”. Léon Maillé, historian of the plateau fight, said “the surprise to learn that the Legion (the regiment of the 13th DBLE stationed at La Cavalerie, editor’s note) would consider an excursion called a foot fight with marshals in uniform and arms largely in Larzac’.
“Here was a ten-year struggle to create a duty of remembrance in these lands saved from their destruction by the army, outside of that, especially in the most symbolic areas, its presence is inappropriate. It could never go motocross through the Verdun trenches… The comparison is not very strong, but the approach is similar.
“A quasi-civil path, without armed men” according to the 13th DBLE
This Wednesday afternoon a dialogue was able to take place between the collective and the colonel of the 13th DBLE, colonel Benjamin Brunet who had just been received by Emmanuelle Gazel, mayor of Millau. “He told us that the information we had was not good and that the fight would be almost political, without armed men, says a member of the collective, and that the site of La Blaquière would be avoided. Many changes were made and the route changed.”
The race, scheduled for October 3 over about forty kilometers between Millau, Pouncho, Massibiau, Mas de Bru, La Salvage, Saint-Martin du Larzac, Potensac and – maybe? – La Blaquière, is an annual military trail whose organization is entrusted by the Directorate of Human Resources of the Army (DRHAT) to different regiments each time. Last year it was the 1st African Hunter Regiment (1RCA) in charge at Canjuers Camp in Var. Just under 200 participants ran one of the two courses (40 km for men and 28 km for women). For this edition, it is therefore La Cavalerie’s 13th DBLE to fulfill the mission.
The Larzac collective sees it as “a maneuver outside the military camp”
“We reacted because, clarifies the member of the collective, according to the prefectural document of which we knew that the match was considered a military exercise. We consider it a maneuver outside the camp and agreement, as the implicit rules that apply. For years, we want this not to happen, Colonel Brunet told us that this is not a maneuver, but a fight. The collective says it wants to remain cautious and is asking for details and times of the event cycle. “The colonel told us to go collect them from the prefecture.”
