by CHAWKI SALHI
Tipaza, Algiers, Oran, Djelfa, Batna, Béjaïa, Chlef, Bordj… the riots which spread throughout the country underline the failure of the policy followed for several decades and confirm that the choice of neoliberalism contradicts the meeting of the elementary needs of the popular masses.
Everywhere, young people have expressed their anger against the rocketing price of basic products, their distress at the absence of housing, their despair before the scarcity of jobs, their unhappiness at a life without leisure, in a prison country that Europe prevents them from leaving, in a blocked society in crisis. Youth so poor in a country so rich, they have also expressed their hatred for the new possessing classes, their rejection of corruption and humiliation and their determination against repression.
The tradition of rioting is not new. Baraki and Diar Echems still resound from the battles for rehousing. For several months discontent has boiled. In the brawling to get hold of a packet of milk, or the search for an open bakery, rage was expressed at the billions stolen, the gifts presented to Gulf emirates, Algerian princelings or lords of Europe, all of them exempted from tax.
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