Thousands of people marched on Monday in Colombia to reject political, economic, and social reforms planned to be pushed by leftist President Gustavo Petro, who faced his first protest called by the opposition 50 days after he took office.
The main initiative of the current government is the approval of tax reform, which seeks to raise an initial US$5.648 billion to finance social assistance programs for the poorest in the country of 50 million inhabitants.
The reform bill to be approved by Congress, where Petro consolidated a majority with left, center, and even right-wing parties, proposes to increase taxes on people with monthly incomes above US$2,259 and eliminate exemptions.
“No more Petro”, “No to the tax reform”, read multicolored banners held by some of the demonstrators in Bogota, where at least 5,000 people marched and gathered, according to estimates by the Mayor’s Office of the city.
Some protesters accused Petro’s government of authoritarianism and predicted that objections to his administration would increase.
Petro also plans changes to the health system, pensions, and agrarian reform to give productive land to poor peasants, reforming the electoral system and the promotion processes of the Armed Forces and the National Police, among others.
“It is damaging my pension, my health, private property; we need respect for the family,” said a protester in Bogotá’s Plaza de Bolivar.
The protests, which were peaceful and without acts of vandalism, also spread to the cities of Medellin, Cali, Armenia, and Villavicencio, police reported.
With information from Gaceta