Tunisia: Tunisian Discontent Reflected in Protests That Have Idled Mines

May 13, 2014 | Carlotta Gall, The New York Times
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GAFSA, Tunisia — Tunisians often say the first uprising of the Arab Spring began not in 2010 after the self-immolation of a fruit vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, but in 2008, when protests over corrupt hiring practices at the mines of Gafsa ran on for six months. It is a measure of the lingering challenges of Tunisia’s revolution that people here are still in revolt.In the towns of Moulares and Redeyef, protests have idled the phosphate mines — a cornerstone of the economy — for much of the last three years. Citizens regularly block roads and burn tires. Police and government officials are barely tolerated.