PROTESTS IN LEBANON ESCALATE AGAINST POVERTY, POLITICAL INACTION

Wed 10 March 2021:

Groups of protesters have been burning tyres daily to block roads since the Lebanese currency tumbled to a new low on Tuesday, enraging a population long horrified by the country’s financial meltdown.

On Monday Hundreds of Lebanese demonstrators blocked roads across the country for the eighth consecutive day in protest against the deteriorating economic and living conditions after the country’s currency plunged to record lows.

“We’ve closed off all the roads today to tell everyone: It’s over, we have nothing left to lose,” said Pascale Nohra, a protester blocking the northern road into Beirut. “We’ve even lost our dignity.”

She said it was time to revive the mass cross-sectarian protests of late 2019 against an entrenched political class, that has dominated the country since the 1975-1990 civil war.

“We want everybody to show solidarity,” said the former real estate worker. “We need to return to the streets and revive our revolution.”

The protesters blocked roads with cars, tyres, rocks and waste bins in the capital Beirut and in areas to the north and south of the country.

Prices have soared and more than half of the population are living below the poverty line, but the divided political class has for more than six months been unable to form a cabinet.

Lebanon’s currency has lost more than 80 percent of its value since the autumn of 2019, plunging to an all-time low of nearly 11,000 pounds to the greenback.

In a country that imports most of its food, state subsidies have until now helped to partially stem the inflation.

But with foreign currency reserves dwindling, the authorities have warned they will not be able keep them up much longer.

The popular protests began last Tuesday after the exchange rate of the Lebanese lira reached 10,000 against the US dollar.

The rise in the exchange rate on the black market led to a significant increase in the prices of consumer goods and a severe decline in the purchasing power as the minimum wage in Lebanon is less than $70.