The Untold History of Cheria, Algeria: A Microcosm of Global Struggles
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Nestled in the rugged highlands of eastern Algeria, the town of Cheria (El Cheria) carries a history that mirrors the turbulence of the 20th and 21st centuries. From French colonial exploitation to its role in modern energy geopolitics, this small settlement embodies the contradictions of globalization.
The French occupation of Algeria (1830–1962) transformed Cheria from a quiet Saharan trading post into a strategic military outpost. Colonial archives reveal how the French Foreign Legion forcibly displaced local Ouled Nail tribes to exploit Cheria’s proximity to phosphate deposits—a precursor to today’s resource wars.
Key events:
- 1930s: Forced labor camps established for phosphate mining
- 1945: Cheria becomes a detention center for anti-colonial activists after the Sétif Massacre
- 1957: FLN (National Liberation Front) uses Cheria’s caves as hideouts during the Algerian War
Cheria sits atop the Ahnet Basin, estimated to hold 20 trillion cubic feet of shale gas. Since 2014, multinationals like TotalEnergies and Sonatrach have faced fierce resistance from locals who recall colonial-era resource extraction. The 2015 Ain Salah protests—where Cheria residents joined nationwide demonstrations—highlighted the "resource curse" dilemma:
Contradictions:
- Algeria relies on hydrocarbons for 93% of export earnings
- Fracking threatens the already scarce Mio-Pliocene aquifer
- Youth unemployment exceeds 30% despite energy wealth
NASA satellite data shows Cheria’s surrounding lands have warmed 2.1°C since 1950—triple the global average. The disappearing date palm groves echo climate migrations across the Sahel. A 2022 UN report identified Cheria District as one of Algeria’s most vulnerable to desertification.
Wagner Group mercenaries were allegedly spotted near Cheria in 2021, coinciding with Algeria’s arms deal with Moscow. Analysts suggest Russia sees Cheria’s instability as leverage to:
1. Disrupt European energy diversification
2. Expand influence in OPEC+
3. Counter U.S. presence in neighboring Niger
The nearby Trans-Saharan Highway (Beijing-funded since 2016) turns Cheria into a BRI logistics node. Local markets now flood with cheap Chinese solar panels—ironic for a town electricity blackouts average 8 hours daily.
Meet 19-year-old Djamila, who runs a clandestine YouTube channel documenting police brutality. Her viral video "Cheria on Fire" (2023) showed rioters chanting: "We want universities, not gas wells!"—a refrain echoing across Global South youth movements.
The semi-nomadic Chaamba people, who once traversed Cheria’s plains, now cluster in government resettlement blocks. Ethnographer Amine Kessas’ fieldwork captures their adaptation:
"My grandfather tracked stars, my father followed oil trucks, I swipe delivery apps in Ouargla."
Algeria’s secretive Département du Renseignement et de la Sécurité (DRS) maintains an oversized presence in Cheria due to:
- Border security: 70km from Libyan smuggling routes
- Energy infrastructure protection
- Surveillance of Salafist groups
Leaked cables reveal the 2020 "Operation Sand Shield" involved mass arrests of anti-fracking activists under counterterrorism laws.
If the EU’s €2.1 billion "Sahara Solar" initiative materializes, Cheria could become a renewable energy hub—but risks repeating extractive patterns.
With Algeria’s leadership transition looming, Cheria’s mix of unemployed youth and armed groups mirrors Mali’s trajectory pre-2012 coup.
Tech startups like DesertCode (founded by Cheria natives in Algiers) prototype AI-powered water management systems—a rare hopeful sign.
France’s 2022 "Memory and Truth" commission excluded Cheria’s colonial archives from declassification, fueling new tensions. Meanwhile, Algeria’s state narrative downplays Cheria’s 1988 Black October protests where security forces killed 23 demonstrators—a taboo topic until recent Twitter threads resurrected the footage.
The town’s crumbling Monument aux Martyrs bears bullet holes from unknown shooters in 2019. Like Libya’s Leptis Magna or Syria’s Palmyra, Cheria’s physical history is becoming another casualty of intentional neglect.
Satellite imagery analyzed by Bellingcat shows mysterious earthworks 15km southwest of Cheria—possibly Chinese-run rare earth exploration or secret military installations. Neither Algiers nor Beijing responds to inquiries.
Meanwhile, Cheria’s cybercafés buzz with Bitcoin miners exploiting subsidized electricity, while the local hospital lacks MRI machines. This surreal contrast epitomizes 21st-century inequality.
Underground artists repurpose fracking pipes into sculptures displayed at the clandestine Sahara Biennale. Poet Zohra Benali’s viral verse captures the zeitgeist:
"They drill the earth like surgeons
extracting the marrow of our future
while we barter bottled sand
to tourists who call it ‘authenticity’."
The town’s last traditional ghanat (underground water channel) collapsed in 2023—an apt metaphor for evaporating heritage. Yet in Cheria’s weekly souk, merchants still trade Tuareg salt from Timbuktu alongside smuggled iPhones, proving globalization’s layered realities.