Indonesia’s gasoline price protests rage even harder
Indonesian students burn tires during a rally against the government’s plan to rise fuel prices in Medan on March 29, 2012.
Protests sweeping Indonesia appear to be growing larger and more unruly, with demonstrators' ranks predicted to swell to 80,000 people and 40,000 police/soldiers deployed on the streets, according to the Jakarta Globe.
We've seen the protests steadily intensify from students taunting riot cops with bonfires to men in body armor firing tear gas into crowds.
Now protesters are stepping up their disobedience campaign by blocking a major road leading to the House of Representatives, the Jakarta Post reports.
What could compel so many men and women onto the streets?
Gas prices.
Indonesia's government-subsidized gas is sold by the liter but, were it sold by the gallon, the current price would come out to about $1.80 a gallon.
But rising global petroleum costs have the current government insisting that price increase to a cost of $2.40 a gallon.
Sound cheap by American standards? Consider that roughly half of Indonesia survives on about $2 per day.
This is what the protest looks like. The images, shot by AFP/Getty, are growing more striking by the day.
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