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Iván Duque faces his first general strike in rejection of his government

2019-11-20T18:23:03.614Z


This November 21, a national strike has been convened in Colombia to protest against the government of President Iván Duque. The government says there are no objective reasons for the nation's march ...


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(CNN Spanish) - In 15 months of government, President Iván Duque has failed to conquer a large part of Colombians, who will march throughout the country on November 21 against his government.

The trigger that generated the call in social networks of this march was the revelation made in the Colombian Senate in early November on the death of at least eight children in an army bombing against criminal organizations, in August in the department of Caquetá, in the southwest of the country. These events led to the resignation of Colombian Defense Minister Guillermo Botero on November 6.

But this event was only one more in a series of reasons why Colombians will protest in different parts of the country on Thursday 21. Various trade union organizations in Colombia called for a national strike and other sectors such as students, teachers, social leaders, among others , announced their support for this strike.

  • Information on the death of eight minors in bombing and other accusations against the outgoing Colombian Minister of Defense
  • Seven setbacks of Iván Duque in his first year of government

At least in Bogotá, there will be 17 marches and 30 related activities in different parts of the city, said the mayor of Bogotá, Enrique Peñalosa, on Wednesday, citing the organizers of the march.

The organizers of the march say they will protest, among other reasons, for the increase in unemployment in the last year, the increase in murders of social leaders (the Duke government says that during his government the murders of social leaders have decreased) and some economic measures that have called “the Paquetazo de Duque”, which say “they will directly affect the workers, citizens, youth and pensioners of the country,” according to the Peace and Reconciliation Foundation.

Among that 'Paquetazo' of Duque - a name inspired by how they were called to the economic measures of the president of Ecuador Lenín Moreno, who after strong protests were withdrawn - are some possible reforms to the pension, a labor and tax reform.

Brutal repression of the government against unemployment.

We denounce that they have arrested 3 volunteers from # ParoNacional21Nov who were distributing the flyer of the reasons for the strike. All propaganda was seized in the Flags sector in #Kennedy #DuqueContraElParo pic.twitter.com/DsLNKqVsG2

- CUT Colombia (@cutcolombia) November 19, 2019

Duque has reiterated that his government has not presented any pension or labor reform, and the tax reform sank in Congress. He also said that his government has not proposed increasing the pension age, or an increase in the contribution for pensioners to contribute more, and said he does not support the proposal to pay less wages to young workers.

  • The students, the headache of Iván Duque in his first 100 days of government

Duque has said that the protest is a “democratic right” and a valid way to “listen and understand the collective concerns”, but he has called for them to be peaceful, because for weeks on social networks they have become viral assumptions called to violence on November 21.

The Colombian Federation of Education Workers, Fecode, said that it is not only about the possible reforms proposed by the government, but that they also protest measures such as the bill presented by Senator Álvaro Uribe Vélez, president of the official Democratic Center , with which according to the students, "working conditions are precarious" for people between 18 and 28 years. That bill was filed and is under study.

The government raised the possibility of declaring a curfew in the national territory if necessary.

“Stigmatization” of the marches

In recent weeks, messages from hooded people who have called for violence on the day of November 21 have become viral through social networks.

One of these was a video posted on the Internet last week in which an unidentified man, with a distorted voice and a covered face, said that Transmilenio stations in Bogotá, and in Medellín, the Metro stations would be blocked: (some ) “Stations have to be completely destroyed,” said the man in the video.

This violent call was rejected by both those who support the march and those who reject it. The Government has made an insistent call to peaceful protests, something that the organizers have also defended, because they say that violence does not represent them.

The Colombian Prosecutor's Office said on November 11 that it is carrying out investigations to identify the person in the video. The investigation was opened for terrorism and incitement to commit crimes, the Prosecutor's Office said.

The Democratic Center government party has linked the protests of November 21 with what it called "dark and foreign forces" that "have been generating chaos and violence throughout South America," referring to protests in Chile and Bolivia. The party has not shown evidence of these accusations.

Senator and former president Álvaro Uribe, leader of the Democratic Center, said last week that the November 21 strike "is part of the strategy of the Sao Paulo Forum that tries to destabilize Latin American democracy." The Forum is a meeting of parties and leftist groups in Latin America. Uribe, like his party, also offered no proof of this.

People who defend the march of 21, have said that those who are against the mobilization have "stigmatized" the protest of November 21, sowing fear to avoid going out to protest.

The elected mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López, said she sees "a lot of prevention and fear" for the march of the 21st.

"I notice a stigmatizing language, a language of fear, of fear, even intimidating, generating a previous and unnecessary tension that can produce tensions and undesirable things," he said on social networks. Lopez called to have faith that the march will help "find the agreed paths to meet the expectations" asked by those who march.

Many, in networks, rejected the “stigmatization of the march”:

I had never seen in Colombia a campaign of intimidation and stigmatization of a march like these days. More than worried about the possible violence some seem to wait for it to delegitimize the protest. How much fear that people freely express their discomfort.

- Felix de Bedout (@fdbedout) November 17, 2019

#ReasonsTo March

- For the murdered social leaders.
- For the murdered peasants.
- For the children who died in an Army bombing, which was also hidden.
- For the indigenous people of Cauca, who continue to kill.
- Because they stigmatize the protest.

- Johana Fuentes M. (@JohaFuentes) November 18, 2019

#Duque has IMEDO and therefore scares with the noise of boots on the streets, smear campaigns, threatening with repression, denying its dismal management when there is # 100 Reasons to March
Quiet Pte, don't make your low image worse by turning the peaceful march into a false positive

- Gustavo Bolívar (@GustavoBolivar) November 19, 2019

Those who are not in favor of the march, seem the most interested in what happens in the midst of violence and riots. Know that no one who really hurts the country wants a riot, that is only in the heads of cowards and accomplices of terror. # YoMarchoEl21Por

- Nórida Rodríguez (@Noridaoficial) November 17, 2019

Bogotá, with a military presence

As November 21 approaches, the tension began to feel from days before. In recent days they are "more military than usual" and more police operations in Bogotá, local press has reported.

This Wednesday, Mayor Peñalosa told reporters in Bogotá that although it is not possible to say that the city is militarized, there is a presence of military personnel in the city to monitor strategic facilities and “ensuring that there is adequate protection for the various public services” electrical substations and infrastructure of that type.

"What we do is guarantee to the vast majority that there are no minorities who scrutinize on the march or in the different activities of unemployment comment on criminal acts," said the mayor.

On Tuesday, the newly appointed Minister of Defense, Carlos Holmes Trujillo, said that “at the request of the local authorities” of Bogotá, the “accompaniment” of members of the National Army Brigade 13 was agreed to the Police and Migration patrols Colombia, reported Cablenoticias, a CNN affiliate in Spanish in Colombia.

Migration Colombia announced on Tuesday that it will close all its land and river border crossings with Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and Venezuela, from 00:00 on Wednesday until 05:00 on Friday, November 22.

"The measure, which will be applied in 12 Migration Control Posts, is made in order to guarantee total normality in the development of the marches that will be carried out in different regions of the country next Thursday, November 21," the statement said.

Concentration points

In Bogotá, concentrations are expected in various parts of the city starting at 9:00 am, one of them in the National Park, in the center of the city, and the mobilization will go to the Plaza de Bolívar. There are also the Cundinamarca Governorate, the District Planetarium, El Sena in Carrera 30, as reported by the local press.

In Medellín, the second largest city in the country, one of the largest mobilizations will be in the Parque de las Luces, in the center, the universities of Antioquia and Nacional and El Poblado, reports the local newspaper El Colombiano.

And in Cali, the concentration points will be the Parque de las Banderas, the Universidad del Valle, the Paso del Comercio, the CAM del MIO Station, among others, according to information from the city's Security Secretariat.

With the purpose of informing the citizens, the Secretariat of @SecurityCali shares the concentration and mobilization points that the organizers of the National Unemployment in Cali have arranged. Always remember to check the official information issued by the authorities. pic.twitter.com/yrKpwxapmW

- Security and Justice (@SeguridadCali) November 19, 2019

Activities are expected to begin around 9 am

Protests in Colombia

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2019-11-20

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