The latest hot spots in a wave of uprisings sweeping the world have been in Morocco, Madagascar, and Peru.
In Morocco the unrest was ignited by the deaths of several pregnant women following routine caesarean operations in the city of Agadir, highlighting a collapsing health system. Young people have mobilised right across Morocco under the umbrella of GenZ 212, (Generation Z and the international dialling code for Morocco,) an anonymous Discord server with 3,000 members, which grew to 130,000 in just a few days. Youth unemployment stands at 36% in Morocco, and its education system has produced a large number of graduates who have not been able to get a job, with nearly 1 in 5 unemployed. These ex-graduates, and current students, are at the forefront of the unrest. The billions spent by the Moroccan government on infrastructure for the 2030 World Cup has been another factor in this unrest.
For several nights young people fought with police in towns and cities throughout Morocco. Three people have been killed by riot police and hundreds of others injured.
The uprising scared Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch enough to say that he was ready to “engage” with the protestors. The following day, GenZ 212 rejected this, and called on the government to resign. The unrest continues. It is noticeable that those involved are using the skull and crossbones with a straw hat first used by demonstrators in Indonesia( this emblem of rebellion is now being used around the world, most noticeably in the recent mass movements in France, and refers to the Playstation character of Luffy).
Madagascar
After a period of 64 years Madagascar became independent from French rule on June 26, 1960. From 1947 to 1940 the French military had carried out many atrocities amongst the Malagasy population, resulting in as many as 100,000 dead. They employed collective punishment, torture, rape, mass executions, burning of villages and throwing prisoners out of planes.
Since 2022, a number of uprisings has challenged the Malagasy government, one of the most corrupt in the whole of the African region. A number of young people, using the network Gen Z Madagascar, through Facebook and TikTok, have taken an active part in the unrest. Disgusted by water shortages and frequent energy stoppages, young people turned out to protest in many towns and cities, quickly reinforced by workers and community groups. Their demands quickly turned into calls for the resignation of President Andry Rajoelina, installed after a coup in 2009, and his entire government.
Rajoelina was forced to dismiss the government, saying, just like Akhannouch, that he understood the discontent, whilst continuing to use State forces to attack demonstrators. At least 22 people have been killed during the course of the uprising, with many injured.
Peru
From September 20th, demonstrations erupted in towns and cities in Peru, spearheaded by young people holding banners and placards with the “Z” image, signifying Generation Z. Once again, the skull and crossbones with straw hat became a symbol of the movement. This was a result of an announcement by the far-right government of the deeply unpopular President Dina Boluarte, to privatise the pensions system.
They were soon joined by the rural poor and by the unemployed. The pensions reform was just a catalyst for the widespread discontent with a government seen as deeply corrupt. Boluarte was involved in the “Rolexgate” scandal, where she accepted Rolex watches as bribes. In July she doubled her own salary to 35 times the monthly minimum wage.
As elsewhere, the protests escalated to mobilise corruption and repression, as well as a rising crime wave. Boluarte’s approval ratings fell to 2.5%. The protests have continued throughout October. On October 2nd, a transport strike began in the capital of Lima and the port town of Callao. Criminal gangs, tied to the Boluarte regime, have been attacking transport workers, robbing and murdering them. Despite police repression, the strike went ahead, and blockades were set up on the Panamericana Norte highway and in Lima. Workers and students demonstrated together, with workers calling for better conditions.
The government responded by putting forward a bill to combat “urban terrorism.” Despite this, the protests continued, and on October 10th, Boluarte was sacrificed, being forced to resign by lawmakers. Various conservative factions, up to now loyal to Boluarte, were affrighted by the social unrest and turned against her.
Throughout the world, capitalism has imposed globalisation. In response global resistance is now emerging. It is significant that for many in these countries where there have been recent social explosions, the old panacea of emigration to Europe and North America and other parts of Asia to find work has been halted by increasingly harsh immigration controls. There is also the underlying problem of increasingly extreme weather conditions in these countries, with the governments there being seen as unwilling to combat global warming.
The mainstream media has attempted to portray these movements as being uniquely tied to the concerns of Generation Z, those born between 1997 and 2012, with tech savvy. They try to make out that the demands raised have nothing to do with the rest of the working class. This has been proved false with the Gen Z demands rallying other sections of the working class, and showing that the Gen Z phenomenon is transcended and becomes a much larger movement.
Another significant factor is the use of Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Discord to spread messages and demands and coordinate actions. This allows decentralised coordination and the use of viral symbols like the skull and crossbones with a straw hat, that is uniting different groups around the world.