Skyrocketing fuel prices spark protests around the globe

By Lauren Kent, Hira Humayun, CNN

(CNN) — Protesters are taking to the streets around the world to voice anger about skyrocketing fuel prices and rolling blackouts, as the war in Iran drives up the cost of energy.

Oil prices climbed back above the $100 per barrel mark last week in the wake of further US strikes on Iranian oil tankers in the Gulf and reignited fighting in Yemen that threatens shipping in the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

For the United States, that has meant elevated gas prices and stark warnings for households that rely on heating oil to keep warm in the winter, as analysts forecast a 30% jump in prices amid the Iran war.

As the price of fuel ratchets up, so does the anger of people who can no longer afford to pay for gas, get to work, run their businesses or even carry out essential services.

In Syria, protesters burned tires on a busy highway. In Guatemala, they blocked roads to demand immediate government action. And in Portugal, local business leaders and workers marched to the prime minister’s home.

Here’s a closer look at the protests and the global impacts of sky-high energy costs:

Syria

A steep rise in fuel prices over the weekend ignited protests across Syria, marking the largest demonstrations in the country since the fall of the Assad regime two years ago.

The country’s government temporarily raised diesel prices to 175 Syrian pounds ($1.43) a liter – roughly a 40% hike – according to Syrian news agency SANA. It also raised prices for gas by more than 25%.

The Syrian Energy Ministry has said the steep price increases are due to surging global fuel prices and ongoing maintenance at the country’s largest refinery, Baniyas, which has increased its reliance on imports, SANA reported.

While dozens of protests have been peaceful, demonstrators on Sunday blocked the Hasaka–Deir ez-Zor highway, where they burned tires and stopped oil tankers, according to ACLED, a global conflict monitor.

“Fuel availability, rising prices, falling purchasing power, and poor services are all reasons that have accumulated public resentment, although demands are also shifting toward reversing decisions and removing officials, including the energy minister, showing that economic grievances are turning into grievances against the government,” said Muaz Al Abdullah, a Syria analyst at ACLED.

Video filmed by Reuters news agency from the scene of a protest in Aleppo on Sunday shows people burning tires and shouting chants criticizing the governments’ fuel hike decision.

“All those present here want a reduction in diesel prices. We don’t want higher wages, we want cheaper (fuel),” one Syrian protester, Yasser Salim, told Reuters.

Another protester, Bassam al-Ali, said: “We do not want roundabouts, every day they (the government) build a new roundabout that costs a million thousand dollars, and malls and I don’t know what … Your people were with you, is still with you now and will remain with you – but this will let things explode.”

Guatemala

Last week in Guatemala, groups of organized truckers and other protesters blocked highways and caused damage in various parts of the country to protest rising fuel prices, according to the Associated Press.

Other videos taken by local media show people marching peacefully through Guatemala City to demand immediate government action.

The country’s Congress is now working to address the widespread discontent through a proposed law that would cap prices until the end of the year, but the bill is still making its way through the legislative process, according to Guatemala’s national news agency AGN. If passed, it would mean that a government subsidy is paid to fuel importers if prices exceed the established cap, according to AP.

“This is an issue that must be resolved as a country. The executive, the legislative, and everyone else involved must resolve it. People cannot pay these prices and not feel the impact on their finances,” said the president of the Congress, Luis Contreras Colindres, in an address on Monday.

“Diesel is the engine that drives this country’s economy,” Contreras said, according to AGN.

Portugal

Protests took place in the coastal city of Espinho, Portugal, on Saturday to protest both rising gas prices and the soaring cost of living.

About 80 people took part in that demonstration, which was organized by local business leaders and aimed at pressuring the government to find solutions, according to Portugal’s Lusa News Agency. The protesters marched until they reached the home of Prime Minister Luís Montenegro in Espinho.

Meanwhile, the Portuguese Firefighters’ League (LBP) has sounded the alarm that surging fuel prices are becoming unsustainable for fire brigades and saddling volunteer organizations with costs they can’t keep up with.

On Monday, the country’s government announced a new package of measures intended to ease the fuel price crunch, according to Lusa. Those measures include support for freight transporters, taxi drivers, the fire service and the social sector, the news agency reported.

France

About 50 fishermen blockaded a major fuel depot in the coastal southern French town of Fos-sur-Mer on Tuesday, in part to protest rising fuel prices, according to CNN affiliate BFMTV.

The blockade lasted several hours and the protesters briefly clashed with police, BFMTV reported.

Mayor Philippe Maurizot said the fishing industry in the town is facing a “profound crisis that demands an urgent and strong response from the state,” and said the protesters’ anger “must be heard.”

“Rising costs, increased fuel prices, a growing number of constraints, insufficient income, and a lack of visibility are placing some professionals in an untenable situation,” he said in the letter addressed to the French prime minister.

Philippines

Workers of the Philippine transport group Manibela went on strike on Monday to protest fuel price hikes – calling for government subsidies and scrapped fuel taxes.

It comes as petroleum companies in the country announced another round of fuel price hikes, which went into effect on Tuesday, hitting drivers with an increase of 5.68 pesos (0.01) per liter of gas, according to the Philippine News Agency (PNA). The prices of diesel and kerosene were also hiked again this week, according to PNA.

“We know that every increase at the pump affects more than the cost of filling up a vehicle. It affects the daily budget of families, the livelihood of our drivers, and the operating costs of businesses,” said Energy Secretary Energy Secretary Sharon S. Garin, as she announced on Tuesday that the government had cleared a hurdle to potentially reduce excise taxes on petroleum products.

Bus drivers and motorists have been struggling for months amid the rising costs, which surged drastically in March and still remain elevated compared to pre-war prices.

Back in March at the height of the country’s fuel crisis – about a month after the start of the Iran war – people in Manila marched toward the country’s presidential palace to express discontent with steeply rising energy prices.

“The Philippines should stand up and call for an end to the US aggression against Iran. The impact of the oil disruption affects us all. We might not have been hit by bombs, but we are being hit by poverty and hunger because of the rise in oil prices,” said trade union leader Jerome Adonis in late March.

Student unions have also joined the widespread protests at various points this year, railing against a wider cost of living crisis in the Philippines.

CNN’s Heather Law contributed to this report.

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