2019, a Year in Protest

There is an international trend dominating global news: everybody seems to be protesting their government. Social unrest in Hong Kong, Chile, Lebanon, and Catalonia, just to name a few, has been on the radar of top media companies as violence and state pushback increases. Each of these movements have varying goals and levels of international support. Regardless, one thing is undoubtedly clear: 2019 has been a year of protest.

In Chile and Lebanon, civilian discontent was mostly attributed to economic inequality and government corruption. When the Chilean government decided to raise the metro fares in Santiago by 30 pesos per ride (the equivalent of around $0.40), secondary school students went to the metro stations starting October 7th to protest. After a series of these metro protests were met with violent retaliation from the police, millions of Chileans took to the Santiago streets to express their anger not only at the government’s raising of metro fares, but at the recent police brutality and long-term growing economic inequality. Since the beginning of the protests, 26 deaths and over 11,500 injuries have been reported.

Similarly, in Lebanon, protests were sparked by a relatively minor change in tax measures by the Lebanese government. Frustration with the economic state of Lebanon was not new. Issues such as unemployment and recession were of concern since the Taif Agreement in 1989, which ended the Lebanese Civil War, reasserting control of the federal government. There were other concerns as well with sectarianism and corruption between politicians. Many members of the Lebanese political class have abused their powers to amnesty, holding powerful positions they have been enjoying since before the Lebanese Civil War, and holding on to their extravagant luxuries to the detriment of the common people. Now going into its seventh week, protests are still happening today with no end in sight as the Lebanese government struggles to subdue the protesters demanding for reform.

Meanwhile, in Hong Kong and Barcelona, protesters are fighting for their rights for autonomy under a government whom they believe is slowly stripping away their cultural identity and political rights.

Hong Kong has existed as a special administrative region under the government of China ever since 1997, in which the United Kingdom formally handed back rule of the port city to the mainland under certain conditions—that Hong Kong would have its own government in which political leaders would be democratically elected. Hong Kongers also generally feel a deep cultural divide between themselves and mainland China as well—the official language of Hong Kong is Cantonese, while in China it is Mandarin. In Hong Kong, citizens have unrestricted access to social media and the Internet, while in China, most Western social media platforms such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter are banned. On June 16th, 2019, over two million protestors led a march in the middle of the city in defiance against the recently passed ELAB bill, which granted China authority to extradite arrestees from Hong Kong back to the mainland to await trial. Given China’s track record of having an unfair criminal justice system, this proposed system was met with staunch resistance. While the ELAB bill was formally withdrawn in October, protests are still going on stronger than ever as current objectives include the release and pardon of political activists, universal suffrage for legislative and executive elections, and investigation into the Hong Kong police, who are accused of using excessive force, escalating the originally peaceful protests.

Finally, the Catalonia protests share parallels with Hong Kong’s situation, though there are some key differences in historical background. Unlike Hong Kongers, the main motive of Catalonian protesters has always been independence from the Spanish government. The Catalan independence movement has long been established, with the earliest evidence of separatism originating from the mid 19th century. However, in 2019 Catalonians are in the streets advocating for the release of nine political prisoners under arrest for conducting the 2017 Catalonian independence referendum, in which the Catalan population overwhelmingly voted in agreement for secession. However, like the Hong Kong protests, Catalonians cite a cultural divide between themselves and the rest of Spain. Catalonians speak Catalan, while the majority of Spaniards speak Spanish. Catalonia also has its own judicial law system and distinct history separate from Spain. 

While the outcomes of these protests are still yet to be determined, the spirit of dissent and revolution behind these movements continue to inspire civilian political participation and civic engagement around the world as 2020 approaches.

by ATHENA LI