Empty gondolas, insecurity and two hours to get to work

The violence, strikes and pickets, who has crisscrossed Colombia for more than a month, has turned the lives of Colombians upside down. Getting to work is a high risk assignment. The gondolas are empty. And what little there is costs nonsense. There is no chicken, egg or dairy product. There is no fuel. There is no transportation. There is a lot of insecurity. And uncertainty reigns.

Negotiations between the government of Iván Duque and the so-called National Strike Committee for the search for a solution to the crisis that the country is going through, sunk in a swamp of poverty, pandemic and social discontent, are on point. dead.

The situation is delicate. Blockages don’t just prevent the passage of food. The list of supplies blocked halfway on the roads ranges from fuel to medical supplies … Nothing is moving forward, neither cars nor transport.

Small and medium-sized distributors do not reach their destination. Families who live off the daily sale of food do not have to sell. And the lack of liquefied gas – vital for homes, businesses, industries, hospitals and agricultural production – is worrying in various departments of the country, such as Antioquia and Nariño.

In Cali, the vandals decided to destroy the gas stations, steal the fuel and sell it on the street.

In a vicious wheel of trouble adds rising unemployment. According to figures from the National Administrative Department of Statistics, it fell from 14.2% in March to 15.1% in April.

Part of this increase is also due to restrictions due to the pandemic. Another part, depending on government sectors, is attributed to unemployment and blockades.

Walk two hours

Marie-Angele, is 55 years old and is a domestic worker. She lives alone in Soacha, a municipality annexed to Bogotá. And to get to work, he has to travel north, across town. But with the strike and the pickets, he found himself without transportation. And had to walk 50 minutes, hours …

“The first days of the strike, I had to walk two hours to get home because of the lack of transport, many buses and Transmilenio stations were destroy. The last few days I walk a little less, sometimes 50 minutes, ”he consoles himself.

Insecurity has also set in. “In my region, they see hooded men charging cars and motorcycles to pay the toll to let them pass,” he said. Bugle. And many patients who need dialysis or chemotherapy They could not keep their appointments.

María Ángela initially suffered from the lack of means of transport. And then the shortage. You have trouble finding oil, eggs, milk, toilet paper …

After eight days of conflict, things started to fail in the gondolas. On the 15th, the price of meat had tripled. And after a month, the sugar and eggs were still so stiff, he lists.

Fear in the country

At the other extreme is Amparo, 73, a businesswoman and better off living in a gated community on the outskirts of Bogotá. But for her, unemployment too knocked on the door.

Used to shopping in wholesale supermarkets, the first thing Amparo also noticed was empty gondolas: shortage of fruits, vegetables, meat and chicken.

Security in the gated community has become a concern. And it had to be strengthened. The spirits of the neighbors became restless and fearful. Fear of what might happen.

“We were hurt by the news of the deaths of two babies because ambulances were not allowed to pass. We are fortunate to have been able to move these days, but a few days ago, on the way back to Chía, the dump trucks were turned over to avoid the passage of cars and people, ”he says. it to Clarin.

Be a cop

José is a policeman, he is 35 years old. He is originally from the Colombian Pacific, a region hard hit by poverty and inequality. His job places him at the forefront. And fear crept under his skin. Not for him. For her family.

“I’m afraid of what might happen to my family if something happens to me. More when you see what happened to a lot of colleagues, ”he admits.

His days are painful. Rest is little, he said. He lives far from the station where he works. He barely sees his family. And endure the insults.

“Due to the bad deeds of some police officers, not all can be sentenced. Many of us are good people, we have families and we also have dreams and needs. We also want changes. “

The student’s gaze

Felipe is a student, at 21 he is the young man of the group of Colombians who Bugle interviewed for this note. He lives in Cali in difficulty. And social networks have been his channel for peaceful protest for weeks.

Like many young Colombians, Felipe believes that a better country is possible, but there are things to do change urgently.

“It’s sad that we are talking to a government that doesn’t seem to want to listen. There are many reasons to walk and mobilize, not only because of the lack of jobs and opportunities, but also because of a Corruption it must be over, ”he lists.

Free education and a better health system for all Colombians are issues that concern him: “Protest is a right we have and that is why we must give ourselves all the guarantees”, he demands and alludes to repression.

And the protests continue, the blockades continue. The toll is measured in dozens of dead and more than two thousand injured, among civilians and police.

The lifting of the blockade is for many the first step towards a return to normalcy. The other urgent requirement is the total cessation of acts of violence. It is expected that in the coming days the Unemployment Committee and the government will be able to establish a new dialogue table to seek solutions.

Bogota Report, Ana Schlesinger. Master Clarin.

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