* For a slideshow, click on: https://reut.rs/2P5W6a6
Oct 22 (Reuters) - Another day, another protest.
On Monday it was Bolivia - angry people clashed with police
after the political opposition said it had been cheated in an
election won by incumbent President Evo Morales.
Last week, the streets of the Chilean capital Santiago
descended into chaos, as demonstrators enraged by a hike in
public transport fares looted stores, set a bus alight and
prompted the president to declare a state of emergency.
Earlier this month, Ecuador's leader did the same after
violent unrest triggered by the decision to end fuel subsidies
that had been in place for decades.
And that was just South America.
Hong Kong has been in turmoil for months, Lebanon's capital
Beirut was at a standstill, parts of Barcelona resembled a
battlefield last week and tens of thousands of Britons marched
through London at the weekend over Brexit.
Protests have flared around the world in the last few
months. Each has had its own trigger, but many of the tactics
and underlying frustrations are similar. Governments, economists
and ordinary people are taking notice.
ECONOMICS
In at least four countries hit by recent violent protests,
the main reason for the uprising is economic.
Governments in Chile and Ecuador have incurred their
people's wrath after trying to raise fares and end fuel
subsidies.
As clashes engulfed Quito, Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno
reached out to indigenous leaders who had mobilised people to
take to the streets.
Within minutes, chief protest organiser Jaime Vargas had
rejected that outreach.
"We're defending the people," Vargas said in a live Facebook
video from the march in Quito.
His response, visible to millions of people, underlines an
added challenge authorities have when trying to quell dissent:
social media has made communication between protesters easier
than ever.
Tens of thousands of people have flooded Beirut in the
biggest show of dissent against the establishment there in
decades. People of all ages and religions joined to protest
about worsening economic conditions and the perception that
those in power were corrupt.
Similar factors were behind deadly civil unrest in Iraq in
early October.
More than 100 people died in violent protests across a
country where many Iraqis, especially young people, felt they
had seen few economic benefits since Islamic State militants
were defeated in 2017.
Security forces cracked down, with snipers opening fire from
rooftops and the internet being shut to stem the flow of
information among protesters.
"The bullets do not scare us. They do not scare Iraqis. This
will all come down over their heads," said one protester in
Baghdad.
GIVE US OUR AUTONOMY
Hong Kong has been battered by five months of huge and often
violent protests over fears Beijing is tightening its grip on
the territory, the worst political crisis since colonial ruler
Britain handed it back to China in 1997.
There have been few major rallies in recent weeks, but
violence has escalated at those held, with militant activists
setting metro stations ablaze and smashing up shops, often
targeting Chinese banks and stores with mainland links.
Police have fired thousands of rounds of tear gas, hundreds
of rubber bullets and three live rounds at brick- and petrol
bomb-throwing activists.
Events in Hong Kong have drawn comparisons to demonstrations
in Catalonia in recent days. There, too, people are angry at
what they see as attempts to thwart their desire for greater
autonomy from the rest of Spain, if not outright independence.
Protesters set cars on fire and threw petrol bombs at police
in Barcelona, unrest sparked by the sentencing of Catalan
separatist leaders who sought to declare an independent state.
Demonstrators also focused on strategic targets to cause
maximum disruption, including the international airport,
grounding more than 100 flights.
That came several days after similar action in Hong Kong,
suggesting that protests movements are following and even
copying each other on social media and the news.
"In Hong Kong they have done it well, but they are crazier,"
said Giuseppe Vayreda, a 22-year-old art student at a recent
Catalan separatist protest.
On Thursday, Hong Kong protesters plan a rally to show
solidarity with those demonstrating in Spain.
LEADER OR NO LEADER
In some cases, individuals rise to the forefront of protest
movements, using social media to get their message across.
In Egypt, where demonstrations last month were relatively
small yet significant in their rarity, the catalyst of dissent
against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was an Egyptian posting
videos from Spain.
Greta Thunberg, a Swedish teenager, inspired millions of
people to march through cities around the world in September to
demand that political leaders act to stop climate change.
Tens of thousands gathered in a New York park to listen to
her speech.
"If you belong to that small group of people who feel
threatened by us, then we have some very bad news for you," she
said. "Because this is only the beginning. Change is coming
whether they like it or not."
(Reporting by Reuters correspondents;
Writing by Mike Collett-White;
Editing by Nick Tattersall)