In Colombia, the mobilization does not give way, nor the police brutality. An official report of the demonstrations that started on April 28 shows 24 dead – including a police officer – and more than 850 injured. But Temblor, a local organization that receives and confirms complaints from victims or witnesses of police abuse, gave Wednesday, May 5, at the end of the day, the figure of 37 dead. Cases of disappearances and sexual violence have also been denounced.
On Wednesday evening, a short video shows two bodies of bloody men on a sidewalk. They were allegedly murdered in the late afternoon in Pereira, a small town 300 kilometers west of Bogota. The UN, Brussels and even Washington have officially expressed concern about the disproportionate use of force by the police, especially in the city of Cali, southwest of Bogota. But President Ivan Duque continues to denounce the action of “Vandals” and “Urban terrorists” that disrupt the demonstrations, block the main roads and force the police to intervene.
Concessions that have not restored calm
Despite the pandemic and the repression, demonstrators once again took to the streets by the thousands on Wednesday, May 5, at the call of unions, social organizations and opposition parties. At midday, in the center of Bogota, the procession was peaceful and even joyful. “When the government is worse than the virus, the people are on the streets”, says a sign. Gatherings were held in all of the country’s major cities and towns in between. In Bogota, Medellin and Cali, the protesters demand the resignation of the president.
In the midst of the demonstrators, left-wing Senator Wilson Arias welcomes the success of the mobilization: “She has already forced the government to withdraw its tax reform, and the hateful finance minister to resign”, he calls into the megaphone. The crowd applauds. ” Even better, continues the senator, the Americans are now considering stopping their military aid to Colombia. “ Cries of victory from the crowd.
The concessions of President Ivan Duque were not enough to restore calm. “At the beginning, we were there to protest against an unfair tax reform that would tax the middle class and the poorest people, recalls Daniela Suarez, student. Now, we are here because there is a health reform in preparation which is unacceptable, and because there are people who have been killed. These deaths hurt us. The government must realize that repression is not the solution to the country’s problems. ”
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