Colombia it is experiencing one of the worst political crises in its history. The wick that has activated the protests in the streets of the country has been the tax reform of the conservative government chaired by Iván Duque, which has ended up withdrawing the proposal due to the enormous social rejection.
The mobilizations, which began in November 2019 in protest against Duque’s economic policy, resurfaced with force two weeks ago after a hiatus of more than a year due to the covid-19 pandemic, which has further worsened the expectations of Colombian families.
According to him Administrative Department of National Statistics (DANE), as a result of the pandemic, monetary poverty in Colombia rose 6.8 points last year compared to 2019 and stood at 42.5%, which means that the number of poor in the country increased by 3, 6 million people going from 17.4 to 21 million.
In this context, the Colombian executive promoted a reform of the tax system It mainly affected the middle class and those who earn the least, something that has caused outrage in much of society. People from all walks of life joined the demonstrations called by the unions, a movement that does not lose strength as days go by.
The mobilizations will continue.EFE / Ernesto Guzmán Jr
Express visit without results
Duke, for the moment, has already visited Cali, where he has appeared by surprise to dialogue with the local representatives of the demonstrations.
At first, Duque was not going to travel to Cali for security reasons, but the escalation of tension in recent days has caused the Colombian leader to finally travel to lead a security council.
This city is the epicenter of the crashes of the last days and it is one of the Colombian cities most affected by the shortage.
However, the Duque’s mediation has not been enough to defuse the protests in Colombia, which will continue throughout the week.
Duke moves tab
The Government of Colombia has announced that in the second half of the year there will be Free enrollment for students of public higher education of strata 1, 2 and 3. In addition, it would be working on this measure, it will end up being a state policy as of 2022.
This measure would affect 97% of students in Colombian public universities.
“We have heard the cry of families and students. All Colombians have a great purpose, which is to be able to make this a sustainable and permanent State policy, and we will continue working on them, ”Duque said at the time of announcing this measure.
On the other hand, the phase 3 vaccination against coronavirus to give a boost to the Colombian immunization campaign.
These decisions respond to two of the requests of the National Unemployment Committee to stop the mobilizations. However, these movements by Duque are not enough and the demonstrations will continue.
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But the political crisis has taken on another dimension, after the images and episodes of police violence. The international community has put the spotlight on this issue and has condemned the excessive use of force by the Police during the protest demonstrations that began on Wednesday of last week and have, until now, at least 42 dead, at least a thousand injured and almost 90 missing.
In this sense, the Office of the Ombudsman of Colombia has activated the search for 168 missing persons throughout the Colombian territory during the protests.
The UN recalled last week the importance of the Government of Colombia guaranteeing social protest and allowing peaceful marches, after delegates from the body denounced the actions of the public force in the city of Cali.
EFE / Carlos Ortega FILE
Weeks of mobilizations in Colombia
Citizen mobilization does not stop. Last Wednesday, which corresponded to the eighth day, new protests shouting “no more violence.” The second day of the “national strike” was marked by the candles, the cacerolazos and the peaceful sit-ins in which the protesters raised a prayer in memory of the fatalities and in rejection of the excesses of the Mobile Anti-riot Squad (Esmad) of the Police .
However, riots were repeated in cities such as Bogotá, where vandals knocked down the capitol fences and threw stones at the police who were there and dispersed the protest with gases; in the Caribbean Santa Marta, where there was looting. In Medellín, there were clashes and even a station of the Metroplús bus system was set on fire.
The most delicate situation happened in Pereira, capital of the department of Risaralda, where three young people were seriously wounded by shots from unknown persons on the César Gaviria Viaduct, which connects that city with neighboring Dosquebradas, when they were participating in a demonstration.
Lucas Villa, who received eight shots In a peaceful protest and became one of the symbols of the Colombian struggle, he died last Tuesday, May 11, due to the critical wounds received by the impact of the bullets.
The Colombian protester, who was on the viaduct, thus becomes one of the 42 deceased who, at least, leave the protests throughout Colombia.
Iván Duque himself has spoken in Twitter on Villa’s death and has condemned the attacks suffered by the protesters: “I repeat what I spoke with Mauricio, his father, that this is the opportunity to unite and express our rejection of violence.”
Dialogue without protesters
Beyond the incidents, the large mobilizations were held peacefully. This Wednesday, the protagonism was for musicians, actors and acrobats, with various artistic and cultural expressions to call for dialogue, propose a reflection and ask for changes in the economic and social policy of the Government.
In parallel, President Duque began last Wednesday his “meeting to advance an agenda on the fundamentals”, a dialogue with him seeking to solve the problem that Colombia is experiencing but to which on his first day he did not invite leaders of the protesters or of the opposition.
Lucas Villa has died. EFE / Luis Eduardo Noriega