Massive protests in Colombia – Telam

Thousands of Colombians demonstrated for the fourth day in a row

Colombian President Ivn Duque’s new tax reform bill failed to convince the thousands of citizens who returned to the streets of major cities across the country on Saturday to demand the proposal’s total withdrawal, amid growing complaints for abuse. during the police repression of the latest demonstrations.

At the same time, the Colombian prosecution has announced the opening of an investigation into six homicides that occurred during these four days of mass protests to verify “whether or not they have to do with the social conflict raging in the region. region”.

The reformulation of the reform project announced the day before by Duque, who withdrew the most controversial proposals such as increasing VAT on goods and services or broadening the tax base for income tax , did not convince the demonstrators called by National Unemployment. Committee.

Duque changes the tax invoice

After an early morning of violence in several towns, which left one gunshot in southern Cali, thousands of Colombians protested for the fourth day in a row against a measure they say punishes the middle class in the middle of the third wave. of the coronavirus pandemic.

To the rhythm of the hype and the cacerolazos, unions, students, indigenous people, the opposition and other civil society organizations marched in many localities on the occasion of International Workers’ Day.

To the rhythm of the hype and the cacerolazos, unions, students, indigenous people, the opposition and other civil society organizations marched in many localities on the occasion of International Workers’ Day.“

“It is incredible that in this crisis that we are living, this violence which crosses the country”, a government decides “to carry out a tax reform (which) ends up further impoverishing the people”, declared a protester from Bogota, who asked not to be identified, according to the AFP news agency.

In the capital, the march was divided in two: part went to the central square of Bolvar, near the seat of executive power, and another to the house of Duque, whose popularity is barely 33%.

The government has remained silent in the face of the crackdown.

In addition to the capital, massive marches were recorded in Medelln (northwest), Cali (southwest), Barranquilla (north) and Neiva (center), as well as in the towns in between.

Although for the most part they developed peacefully, some incidents were recorded in the Caribbean in Barranquilla, where a group of protesters attacked the headquarters of a chain of stores, and in Cartagena, where they set barricades on fire, according to the newspaper El Tiempo.

Meanwhile, in Medelln, Mayor Daniel Quintero warned of threats and suspected attacks against the public transport network and protesters.

“Serious threats that we take very seriously for today May 1. On the one hand, radicalized groups are planning attacks on the metro. On the other hand, the Convivir (self-defense) groups want to take advantage of the disorder to shoot the demonstrators. We have organized troops to defend the city, life and infrastructure, ”tweet.

Since the protests began last Wednesday, a series of riots have taken place in the center and southwest of the country, which have led to the militarization of the city of Cali, the epicenter of the mobilizations.

The government decided to send over 700 troops, 500 Esmad riot force, 1,800 police, two helicopters and 60 motorcycles.

Human rights organizations have demanded heavy repression in the streets.

Of the six homicides investigated by the prosecution, five occurred in this city, capital of the Valle del Cauca department, which has 2.2 million inhabitants.

The government has remained silent

Faced with official silence, human rights organizations and opposition members of Congress have denounced in social networks and communicated that homicides due to the impacts of firearms could rise to 14 and are produced in the midst of the abuses of the public force.

The Francisco Isaas Cifuentes Human Rights Network warned in a statement that “in the streets (of Cali) they are murdering the demonstrators”.

Of this city, the Minister of Defense, Diego Molano, affirmed that the excesses were orchestrated by “Criminal organizations”, including dissidents who did not accept the peace agreement signed with the former FARC guerrillas in 2016.

Molano’s portfolio was the only entity to provide an official record of the unrest and repression of the protests, although it recognized only one dead civilian, without giving further details, and 209 wounded police officers, an officer in uniform died and 185 arrests made in recent days. .

Neither the official Mediator nor the Office of the Prosecutor General, responsible for monitoring the exercise of public officials, has commented on this, while complaints about serious human rights violations committed by the security forces have emerged. are multiplied.

The Francisco Isaas Cifuentes Human Rights Network warned in a statement that “in the streets (of Cali) they are murdering the demonstrators”.

In an “urgent action” request filed with Congress, 19 lawmakers reported that four of the deaths could have been caused by “police actions” and said they had information on 105 people injured in the protests.

On the other hand, Twitter deleted a message from former President Lvaro Uribe for inciting the use of weapons against protesters, in violation of the rules of the social network.

In the message, Uribe appealed to the “right of soldiers and police to use their weapons to defend their integrity”, what the social network considered that “violates policies regarding the glorification of violence”.

The protests against the tax reform, with which the government intends to raise some 6.3 billion dollars between 2022 and 2031 to stabilize the country’s finances after its worst performance in half a century, take place as Colombia passes through a third wave infections that has hospitals on the verge of collapse and exhausted health workers.

With more than 2.8 million infections and nearly 74,000 deaths, the country is, respectively, fourth and fifth most affected in Latin America and the Caribbean in both cases, in proportion to its population.