Moroccans general strike for higher wages, 1990
The Moroccan economy plummeted sharply in the mid-1980s, leading to a program of austerity measures recommended and enforced by the International Monetary Fund. Although these reforms enhanced the prosperity of the country’s elite, most laborers only noticed decreases in food subsidies, rising prices, and an increase in unemployment. People under 21 suffered most—their unemployment rate was above 30%. Most people continued to support the ruler, King Hassan, to project a unified front in the ongoing war against guerilla forces in Western Sahara. As the government made