On this Day and Working Cross History the nineteenth of January. On the nineteenth of January nineteen eighty four, protests began in the Riff area of northern Morocco against the introduction of baccalaureate subscription fees in public schools, which was mandated by a structural adjustment program imposed by the International Monetary Fund. Protesters were also motivated by a sixty seven percent increase in the cost of staple food items like oil, butter,
and sugar. Students in the predominantly Amazig also known as Berber region were joined by workers and the unemployed in days of protests, which were met by violent repression from the regime of Hassan the Second, who described the poor people of the Riff as or bashed, meaning savages or scum. Troops killed and jailed hundreds for repressing the movement, which the government blamed on Communists, Zionists and Iran. But on twenty second of January, Hassan was forced to reverse the
price increases. The sources maps and all of our anniversaries each day check out the on This Day section of our stories at at stories stopworkingclasshistory.
Dot com and if you value our work, support us at Patreon dot com slash working class history links in the show notes. The music by See You Tomorrow,