National strike in Colombia against the policies of I …

Colombia relaunched the historic mobilizations which took place last year with a national strike against the policies of President Iván Duque. The diverse group of leaders included unions, students, teachers, doctors, farmers’ organizations and feminists. the Stop committee which brings together a good part of these groups expressed its rejection of the the president’s economic, social, educational, health and safety policies. The call was made when almost a year after the protests that took place last November and left hundreds injured and several dead. One of them was Dilan Cruz, 18 years old, killed by the mobile riot squad (Esmad). His name was chanted in each of the “sit-ins” which covered almost the entire Colombian territory.

“Duke neither dialogues nor negotiates”

In Bogotá, small concentrations have been observed in different places since morning. The authorities of Central Workers’ Unit (CUT), one of the most powerful unions, gave a positive assessment of the day. “Here is expressed the polychromy of Colombian society which demands rights and attention in the midst of difficulties, because Duque neither dialogues nor negotiates“, said Fabio Arias, head of the CUT. The Unemployment Committee met under the slogan “For life, peace, democracy and negotiation of the specifications”. This last point refers to a set of demands condensed in an “emergency document” that this body presented to the government at the beginning of the year and renewed in the middle of the pandemic. It emphasizes six points. One of them asks for the State intervention in the health system to guarantee care during covid-19. In addition, the unions in the sector denounced that the government is making progress in the privatization of health.

Another point of this statement concerns education. There isStros and the teachers demanded that they not return to face-to-face classes due to lack of government guarantees. One of the unions mobilized was the Colombian Federation of Educators (Fécode). Miguel Ángel Pardo, secretary for educational affairs of this union, said that in the midst of the current economic crisis 43,000 education centers did not receive biosafety supplies, as he told the newspaper The Republic. The teachers remembered Dilan Cruz and asked Duque to stop the militarization of the country. “We will continue to stand up for the lives of our students. We are not going to kneel before a paramilitary and fascist governmentSaid William Agudelo of the District Association of Education Workers. Cruz was assassinated on November 23 of last year in Bogotá. The young man was hit in the head by a lead shot by a member of the riot squad.

Basic income and food sovereignty

The workers also called for a “Basic income” which considers the urgent situation of thousands of people. The Commission requested that this the income is six months for all those who are in a vulnerable situation. They also called for a moratorium on mortgages, consumer credit and utility payments for 4 months. In turn, there was complaints about the increase in violence in remote areas of the country after the peace agreement signed with the former FARC guerrillas in 2016. According to the independent observatory Indepaz, this violence has left 74 massacres to date in 2020. Experts blame the Colombian state for not taking control of the territories left by the rebels after the agreement, which has facilitated the strengthening of new organizations that challenge the coca trade.

Concerning the peasant population, the document calls for the defense of agricultural and industrial production. Indigenous organizations and the popular economy have called for food sovereignty and employment in the context of labor rights. “We are here to tell the government that we reject extractivist policies on the territory. Clearer and more energetic efforts are needed to achieve peace, ”a social activist from the northern department of Santander told digital media. Reports on Colombia. The mobilization also led requests from feminist groups. In this sense, the demand was to ensure the full application of women’s rights and sexual diversity. They also called on the state to take preventive actions to mitigate gender-based violence.

Duque’s days of fighting politics began in November 2019. At that time, the Colombian government reacted with violence, killing at least three and injuring nearly a thousand. The mobilisations lasted until March of this year, when the first case of coronavirus was detected. But in September, after a man was murdered at the hands of men in uniform, new marches were called against police brutality. Thursday’s strike spread across the country: Cali, Barranquilla, Cartagena and Medellín were also the epicenter of the “plantones”. The leaders of the demonstration summoned new events on November 21 and 25.