Tension mounts on Colombian streets
This second day of the national strike was marked by non-violent protests in some parts of the country, including demonstrations, pot-banging and sit-ins on public roads, organised to reject the use of violence by the Mobile Anti-Riot Squad (ESMAD). After President Duque withdrew the tax reform proposal in the Colombian Congress, and followed by the resignation of the Finance Minister, the days of protests continue. The NGO Temblores reported on Wednesday that 37 people have died, while another NGO, Indepaz, concludes that 31 people have died so far in the protests. Colombia is experiencing its eighth day of protests and the second national strike called.
Demonstrators called by the National Strike Committee have come out to protest against the tax reform, which has already been repealed, and against the violence exercised by state security forces, who have been criticised by international organisations and human rights NGOs. Clashes between ESMAD and demonstrators took place in cities such as Medellín, Bucaramanga, Ibagué, Bogotá and Cali. In the capital, protests were recorded in front of the seat of the legislature, the forces of public order used tear gas bombs and water tanks against the demonstrators in the Plaza Bolivar, there were also reported attacks with stones from the demonstrators towards the police, as well as fires in 15 Comandos de Atención Inmediata (CAI), where in one of them there were 10 policemen and where there were 5 injured. The mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López, tweeted: "Compared to yesterday, today we had a less traumatic day. Yesterday more than 200 injured, today 29 (23 civilians and 6 policemen). If anything it should be zero. We will continue to work so that dialogue and serenity prevail. Tomorrow Transmilenio will operate on its normal timetable".
During the protests in Bogotá, there are various versions of who is behind the attacks on state institutions, because it has been shown that there is a line between peaceful protests and acts of vandalism. The Colombian newspaper El Tiempo had access to a report presented by Colombian intelligence, which showed that at least four criminal networks were perpetrating acts of terrorism and vandalism, because according to the report they attacked in a "synchronised and organised" way the police officers located in the CAI. "We must also start working like lone wolves, catch them eating, resting, tanking (in reference to the policemen). Attack them even with sharp weapons and flee, entrance by exit", this was a message distributed by WhatsApp by the organisations and groups that are allegedly behind this attack. According to the report, these groups are financed by the ELN (Ejercito de Liberación Nacional) and FARC dissidents. The president of Ecuador, Lenin Moreno, said at the forum by the Inter-American Institute for Democracy "Ecuador's intelligence organisations have detected the gross interference of the dictator Maduro, of the bloody, corrupt hands of that dictator, in what is happening right now in Colombia". The Colombian intelligence report shows that the profiles of the people involved in these organisations are young people between 17 and 24 years old, mostly unemployed, of Colombian and Venezuelan nationality.
Data from NGOs indicate that since the beginning of the protests there have been 37 deaths, according to them "victims of homicides", 1,708 cases of violence by the security forces have also been reported, 110 cases of gunfire and 10 reports of sexual violence. The Internet collective "Anonymous" decided to hack into the online pages of the army, the Senate and the Colombian presidency as a gesture of solidarity with the Colombian people. The collective published emails and passwords of 168 members of the Colombian Armed Forces.
Latin America Coordinator: José Antonio Sierra.
