A month of vertigo for Colombia | International

Even the coronavirus pandemic has not stopped the social epidemic that Colombia has experienced this month. It has been thirty days and nights of vertigo in a serious social and political explosion, which began on April 28 with the call for a national strike against a tax reform promoted by President Iván Duque. What happened? What changed? What were the victories and setbacks of the demonstrators who still keep the pulse going in the streets? Here are the milestones of one of the biggest crises in the recent history of the South American country:

The tax reform falls, (apparent) origin of the dispute

After five days of mass marches in the streets, Iván Duque’s government on May 2 withdrew the tax reform with which it sought to balance the state’s accounts by increasing tax collection. It was the executive’s big bet to prevent debt rating agencies from lowering the country’s investment rating. The proposal was not only criticized by broad political sectors of the left who saw it as an attack on the middle class – strongly affected by the pandemic – but also from the ruling party itself, the Democratic Center and businessmen. . “We proposed to temporarily postpone the benefits we received from the 2019 reform,” said Bruce Mac Master, president of the National Association of Industrialists (Andi), in a kind of counter-reform that called for not reach the middle class. “Cut us off!” He said.

Minister of Finance resigns

One of the most repeated requests during the marches was the departure of the Minister of Finance, Alberto Carrasquilla. He was the architect of the tax reform and had said he would be part of the government until it was put in place. He managed to convince President Iván Duque to present him to Congress despite voices predicting it was the worst time. The president had publicly declared that presenting it was “stupid”. Months later, he postulated an article that increased value added tax (VAT) and broadened the tax base for taxpayers. With this reform, they would tax not only those who earn the equivalent of $ 1,000 a month, but also those whose salary is $ 700, an increasingly impoverished middle class.

Police repression and deaths of demonstrators

The police crackdown in the early days of the protests – and still continuing – has become the flame that started the great fire. Although the tax reform has already been withdrawn, the reaction of the security forces against the protesters has taken more people onto the streets. The poor image of the armed forces and police violence during the 2019 protests – when an agent from the Mobile Riot Squad (Esmad) shot and killed a young man during a march – wreaked havoc on the government. A month later, there are still no clear figures: the executive speaks of 17 civilians and a police officer killed in the framework of the demonstrations; Human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch say there were 63 deaths, of which 28 were linked to the protests (26 protesters or bystanders and two police officers). According to government figures, 2,151 civilians and police officers were injured.

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No clarity on the missing

A month after the protests, it is also not known how many people are missing. Human rights organizations spoke of 500 citizens; while the Office of the Prosecutor registered only one and the Office of the Ombudsman 87. Recently, the Office of the Prosecutor stated that it had found 290 citizens who had been reported as “not located” and that he was actively looking for 129 other people.

Chancellor resigns

Police brutality – recorded in hundreds of videos and posted on social media – has sparked alarms from the international community. Senators from the European Union, United Nations and North America criticized the police response to the protests. Fifty lawmakers have called on the Joe Biden administration to suspend assistance to Colombian police. The pressure increased and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights requested a visit to the country. The government has criticized the violence against the police, but has not condemned the violence that is taking place against the protesters. 149 investigations are underway for suspected disciplinary offenses within the national police, 31 for physical assaults and 10 for homicides. The wave of international criticism led to the resignation of Foreign Minister Claudia Blum. She was replaced by Vice President Marta Lucía Ramírez, who traveled to Washington on a diplomatic mission to explain the government version of the allegations of human rights violations.

Chaos and violence in the towns of Valle and Cauca

The protests have developed a dynamic in which mornings and afternoons are peaceful and festive marches, but nights become the terrain of chaos and death. The mornings were of fear broadcast live on Instagram and Twitter and the mornings were a tally of dead and injured, complaints and more people on the streets. In a vicious circle. The government assures us that these are acts of vandalism against which it must exert force; the protesters, who infiltrated the protests. In towns like Cali, Jamundí and Popayán, in the Valle del Cauca and Cauca, the violence has intensified. In one of them, the courthouse was burnt down and in another the mayor’s office; law student died amid clashes with police; in Popayán (Cauca), a teenage girl committed suicide after being detained by the police and denounced having been the victim of sexual harassment. Amid the chaos, armed civilians shot at protesters in towns like Pereira, where a young man was killed; In Cali, residents of a wealthy neighborhood shot at indigenous people from Cauca.

Roadblocks and shortages

Roadblocks that prevent the passage of medicines and food have drawn criticism and wear and tear of protest. The most critical expression of this situation was the death of two babies in ambulances that could not move. Another consequence of blockages is the lack of home oxygen and supplies to treat kidney patients. Employers have already sounded the alarm about the economic effects and unemployment. A survey by the Colombian Confederation of Chambers of Commerce of 12,979 businessmen indicated that 90% believe that the jobs they generate are threatened by unemployment.

Negotiations with the strike committee block

While the mobilisations continue, the government and the national strike committee, which brings together the central unions and unions, are unable to come to an agreement. One of the red lines for the government to sit at a negotiating table is that roadblocks be lifted. The strike committee insists on the figure of humanitarian corridors. “For the national government, this point is not negotiable,” said Emilio Archila, government delegate for the dialogues. On the other hand, the strike committee calls on the executive to openly condemn police brutality as a precondition for negotiation.

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