Rebellion for food and hot water

1987 — In Brasov, Romania, workers rebel against communist dictator (since March 22 1965) Nicolae Ceausescu’s draconian economic measures. He ordered the export of much of Romania’s agricultural and industrial production in order to repay its debts (more than $13bn borrowed in the West). He introduced food rationing, and heating, gas and electricity blackouts became the rule. There was a steady decrease in living standards in the 1980s, especially in the availability and quality of food and general goods in shops. Meanwhile, members of the state and Communist Party apparatus lived in opulence. Beginning in late 1986, the seeds of the Romanian Revolution (December 16-25 1989) were sown with labour uprisings across the country. It culminates in the rebellion in Brasov, once a prosperous centre of medieval Transylvania, located in the most beautiful mountainous region of the country. What starts as a march by 200 factory workers over wage cuts, grows to about 15,000 protesters in front of the Communist Party headquarters where they destroy portraits of Ceausescu and copies of his books. The revolt is violently repressed by riot police. About 300 people are arrested, many are tortured and 61 protest leaders are sentenced to 3-5 years in jail. Father-of-five Vasile Vieru dies nine months later as a result of torture. The debt is paid in full shortly before the fall of the communist dictatorship and Ceausescu’s execution by firing squad on December 25 1989.