Lebanon transportation, labor unions go on strike to protest economic crisis

Happening at this hour in Lebanon, people are protesting in several cities against worsening economic conditions.

The land transport sector is staging a strike action. As you can see in these images we received from Beirut today, demonstrators are using trucks to block roads there. Many public places, schools and universities, are closed.

They’re protesting growing petrol prices and a plummeting value of the local currency. There’s also skyrocketing inflation. Lebanon’s economic meltdown began two years ago. The crisis has pushed a large segment of the population into poverty, with the UN estimating that four in five Lebanese can be considered poor.

Also, Washington’s so-called Caesar sanctions on Syria have choked off Lebanon’s economy. The secondary sanctions punish any firms that have financial transactions with Syria. Meantime, a political deadlock among the country’s leaders has worsened the situation.