The economy of the Levantine nation of Lebanon, Israel’s neighbor to the north, is deeply in trouble — in fact, it is failing altogether — and may be taking the rest of the national system along with it.
Rioters in the cities of Beirut, Tripoli and Sidon overturned trash cans, setting them ablaze. In Beirut, demonstrators burned tires on a main highway east of the capital to block the sole artery to the country’s international airport.
The entrance to a government office was also set ablaze, according to the AFP news agency.
Five protesters and two Lebanese Army soldiers were injured in the demonstrations, according to multiple media outlets.
Rioters are protesting their deteriorating living conditions, sparked by shortages in medicine, fuel, and basic consumer goods.
Lebanon has also been without a functioning government since last August, when a massive explosion at the Port of Beirut destroyed a third of the city’s buildings and killed more than 200 people. The Beirut government officially resigned after the disaster. However, it has been impossible for politicians to unite long enough to install a new cabinet in its place.
The riots this weekend came in response to a decision by the government to again slash the value of the Lebanese pound.
The World Bank described the country’s economic crisis in Lebanon is likely to rank as one of the world’s worst since the mid-1800s.
Officially, a US dollar has been worth 1,507 Lebanese pounds since 1997, according to Aljazeera. But the crisis caused by Lebanon’s failing economy comes against the backdrop of an unofficial plunge in the value of the currency.
Money changers in Lebanon told AFP on Saturday the US dollar was trading at 17,300 to 17,500 Lebanese pounds on the black market. There were also reports the value had dropped to 18,000 pounds per US dollar.