What is going on in Colombia: why the protests are not letting up

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The week-long demonstrations began with citizens’ opposition to an ambitious tax reform bill but continued even after President Iván Duque withdrew it. Official figures report that, between repression and riots, at least 24 people died, and over 800 were injured.

Thousands of people returned to the streets of Colombia on Wednesday to protest against the government of President Iván Duque after a week of protests that turned violent and left at least 24 people dead, most of them shot.

Under the scrutiny of the international community – which denounced the excessive use of public force – students, unions, indigenous people, and other sectors took to the streets of the capital Bogotá and Medellín in the northwest and Cali in the southwest.

The trigger was opposition to the tax reform promoted by the government of Iván Duque. But the scope of the discontent was wider, which is why it was not abated after the president announced that he was withdrawing the tax bill and that he was willing to negotiate a new one with the opposition and other political players. The demands are varied: better conditions in health, education, security in the regions, end of police abuse against demonstrations, among others.

The demonstrations have been mostly peaceful but turned violent in some cities. According to official figures, until Tuesday, at least 24 people were killed (18 shot), more than 800 were injured, and 89 are missing. NGOs denounce that the police opened fire on demonstrators and that the number of fatalities exceeds 30. The authorities also report that 3 police officers were wounded.

Thus, what began as a peaceful demonstration on April 28th in rejection of a tax reform already withdrawn turned into the largest protest against the conservative government since it came to power in 2018.

International condemnation

The pressure on the streets does not let up in the face of international community monitoring that denounced police attacks against civilians. The UN, the European Union, the United States, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch called for calm and demanded guarantees from the government during the protests. According to Reporters without Borders, there were also 76 attacks against journalists, 10 of them injured by the security forces.

Bogotá experienced a tense night on Tuesday. According to the local mayor’s office, thirty citizens and 16 police officers were injured after clashes with uniformed officers that left 25 police stations affected. Violence also broke out in Cali on Monday, leaving 5 dead and some 30 injured.

According to the Attorney General’s Office, behind the riots are FARC dissidents who walked away from the peace agreement signed in 2016; ELN, the last recognized guerrilla group in Colombia and drug gangs are also involved

“The vandal threat we face consists of a criminal organization that hides behind legitimate social aspirations to destabilize society, create terror among citizens and divert the actions of the security forces,” said President Duque on Wednesday.

For his part, Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno said Wednesday that Ecuador’s intelligence service “has detected political and economic interference by Maduro in Colombia.”

“I think it is important for the whole world to tell Maduro at this time to get his bloody and abusive hands out of Colombia. Colombia is a wonderful country, in which undoubtedly there should be problems. Undoubtedly, people are complaining about President Duque’s decision. But we have to acknowledge the violence. And I would never want to construe violence as social protest. Violence should not be part of international politics,” declared Lenín Moreno in a report during the “Defense of democracy in the Americas” conference.

Duque calls for “dialogue”

In addition to the protests and riots, there are also road blockades. Some cities such as Cali are experiencing gasoline shortages and concerns about the passage of trucks with medical supplies at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

Duque assured that he would open “spaces for dialogue” to listen to citizens. The government plans 11 meetings starting on Tuesday with the courts, the Congress, inspection bodies, and the Attorney General’s Office, including the protest leaders.

The so-called Strike Committee, which gathers the non-conformist sectors, said it was open to a direct negotiation process free of intermediaries.

The Ministry of Defense deployed 47,500 uniformed personnel throughout the country during the protests. In Cali alone, there are 700 soldiers, 500 men of the anti-riot force (ESMAD), 1,800 police officers, and 2 patrol helicopters. Since the weekend, the military has also been patrolling the capital.

With popularity plummeting (33%), the president has faced massive protests since 2019, plagued by discontent fueled by the pandemic in a country suffering from more than half a century of armed conflict.

Last Monday, President Duque withdrew the tax reform bill presented on April 15th, and the finance minister resigned.

But the post-conflict malaise seems to have taken hold in one of the most unequal countries on the continent, with unemployment at 16.8% and poverty reaching 42.5% of the population, according to official figures.

With the frustrated tax reform, the Duque government had hoped to raise 23.4 trillion pesos (some US$6.3 billion) to improve public finances and maintain social programs for the poorest.

The current Minister of Finance, José Manuel Restrepo, has stated that the new reform bill will be less ambitious, around 14 trillion pesos (some US$3.6 billion). Unlike the previous one, it will not propose an increase in VAT (19%) for goods and services not to affect “sensitive sectors” such as the middle and lower classes, nor will it broaden the tax base for those who earn the least.

Colombia has a problem with fiscal reforms, and they are often designed with a short-term perspective to attack temporary issues, such as the impact of the pandemic. The current one that set the country on fire is the 15th since 1991, which means that every 2 years, there is a discussion of this type.

The Colombian economy enjoys the confidence of the financial markets based on its methodical management of finances. Still, the recent protests have brought to light a little-known aspect of the country, that of millions of people who daily struggle to survive, a situation exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

Source: infobae