Protests in the capital Bogota. (Image: Twitter)
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Colombia’s anti-government protests swell to historic proportions

by Adriaan Alsema

Colombia’s anti-government protests grew to historic proportions in the capital Bogota on Saturday.

The protest was not organized by the leaders of recent national strikes, but drew a crowd so large that it was  impossible to estimate how many people took part.

Unlike Friday’s violent uprising in the southwestern city of Popayan, the protests in Bogota were a peaceful response to recent brutality employed to quell the protest that started on April 28.

The protests were in opposition of far-right President Ivan Duque and his political patron, former President Alvaro Uribe.

The sheer number of people on the streets virtually shut down Bogota’s mass transit system and occurred without notable incidents of violence.

In the Fontibon neighborhood local artists performed a Colombian adaptation of Italian anti-fascist hymn Bella Ciao that was renamed “Duque Chao” and performed as a “Carranga,” one of the local dances.

Protests elsewhere in Colombia were by far not as as overwhelming as in Bogota, but taking place in every corner of the country.

In Cali, which has suffered most police brutality over the past weeks, locals had turned an abandoned police post into a public library.

“The message is clear, we need more education and less violence,” said Senator Sandra Ramirez of the political party formed by former FARC guerrillas as part of a peace process in 2017.

Some poor neighborhoods in Colombia’s third largest city have expelled the police, which has been accused of terrorizing the city in an attempt to quell protests.

The president has tried to negate the protests and strikes, but is set to sit down with the National Strike Committee.

This collective of social organizations called the April 28 strike that triggered the ongoing protests said Thursday that the first point on the agenda will be an end to the ongoing police brutality.

The talks will be accompanied by representatives of the United Nations and the Catholic Church.