Strike Paralyzes Crisis-Hit Lebanon

Strike Paralyzes Crisis-Hit Lebanon

Public transport buses block a road, during a general strike by public transport and labor unions to protest the country's deteriorating economic and financial conditions in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. Hussein Malla/AP

A general strike by public transportation and labor unions paralyzed Lebanon Thursday as the country suffers one of the world's worst economic crises.

The move comes as the country’s ruling class has done almost nothing to try to pull the country out of its meltdown, rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement.

The political class that has run the small nation of 6 million people, including 1 million Syrian refugees, since the 1975-90 civil war is resisting reforms demanded by the international community.

Universities and schools were closed all over Lebanon and many people were not able to reach work because of road closures, The Associated Press reported.

Protesters closed the country’s major highways as well as roads inside cities and towns starting at 5 a.m. The nationwide protests, dubbed a “day of rage,” are scheduled to last 12 hours.

Taxi and truck drivers used their vehicles to block roads to protest a sharp increase in fuel prices as the government lifted subsidies. They are demanding getting subsidized fuel again.

"I tell everyone