The Colombian Unemployment Committee has suspended the marches …

The Colombian National Unemployment Committee, the collective of social, trade union and political organizations that has called for demonstrations since April 28, announced Tuesday the temporary suspension of mobilizations after nearly 50 days of conflict. The group argued, however, that this did not mean the end of the protests.

“We decided to make a temporary interruption of the recurring mobilizations that we made on Wednesdays “Francisco Maltes, president of the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT), said at a press conference.

The union leader assured that “social mobilization will continue because the causes which generated it remain in force” and in this sense he announced a “big concert” next Sunday, the start of a social dialogue to build several bills with his petitions.

In addition, he announced a mobilization towards Congress on July 20, the day the new legislative session begins.

Invoices

The Unemployment Committee hopes to convert their claims, which include an iBasic income for the poorest population and free higher education for lower strata up to five years, on bills to be discussed and passed by Congress.

“We hope, of course, that Congress does not fail Colombians, just as President (Iván) Duque missed in resolving the emergency document,” added Maltés.

The protests, whose epicenter is in the city of Cali (southwest), have killed, according to data from human rights organizations, some 74 people, including at least 20 by bullets fired by the police.

Health authorities connecting the agglomerations of protests with the unstoppable increase in infections and deaths for the covid-19, and the Minister of Health, Fernando Ruiz, declared yesterday that the commission of unemployment “must understand that the epidemiological situation does not give more”.

However, Maltais responded that the third endless peak of the pandemic “It could have been avoided if the government had not delayed the start of vaccination by two months.”

The president of the CUT paid special recognition to the young people “who played a transcendental role in this battle and in the battles that followed”, and underlined that the The Committee realized “for the first time in Colombia that a social agenda is a public debate”.

Finally, he stressed that “this strike has seen important victories”, such as the collapse of fiscal and health reforms, “the result of social mobilization”, and the resignation of the Minister of Finance, Alberto Carrasquilla, and of the Chancellor, Claudia Blum. .