French Guiana, like many other small French insular and quasi-insular territories including the nearby French West Indies, remained French because there was little interest in separating from a much larger and wealthier country willing to support the local economy and population. French Guiana might be poor relative to metropolitan France, but its inhabitants are wealthy compared to their South American neighbours. What is more, the people of French Guiana are French citizens, hence citizens of the wider European Union with all the benefits these statuses ensure. Abandoning these economic and political privileges for the dubious benefits of independence would result in real and very significant costs to the population of French Guiana, especially given the negative experiences of neighbouring Surinam since independence from the Netherlands. Why change things?