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(CNN Spanish) - In 2019, in several Latin American countries, crowds have left to march massively to express their discontent, claiming governments for economic stagnation, corruption, inequality and more specific national problems.
Citizens of Venezuela, Peru, Honduras, Nicaragua, Chile, Bolivia and more recently Colombia, have taken to the streets to say no more.
These are some of the protests that have been recorded throughout this year.
Venezuela
For several years, opposition sectors have taken to the streets asking for the exit of the questioned President Nicolás Maduro from power.
Following years of massive opposition-driven protests, 2019 began with new days of demonstrations, and one of the main events occurred on January 23, culminating in an unprecedented event in the country's recent history: the president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, proclaimed himself interim president, in the middle of a massive demonstration. Its objective: the exit of Maduro's power; a transition government and free elections. Guaidó has been recognized as interim president for more than 50 countries.
Venezuelans who oppose the Maduro government took to the streets of the country massively; demonstrations that, at least in Caracas, ended once more with the National Guard launching tear gas in the east of the city While, in the center of the Venezuelan capital, Chavism concentrated a march called “in defense of peace, the democracy and in support of the president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro ”.
At the end of the rally, Maduro delivered a fiery speech. The president accused the United States of inciting an internal confrontation in the country.
During that mobilization, the protests and looting left at least 16 dead.
Months later, on May 1, the opposition returned to the streets, this time after a frustrated military civic uprising on April 30. Venezuelans met in various parts of Caracas and other cities in the country, in a demonstration against the Maduro government. The questioned president said that the "coup attempt failed," in reference to the military civic uprising, and summoned his followers to a mobilization.
On November 16, again, Government and opposition, which have been trying to negotiate a way out of the crisis, left to march.
Honduras
The government of Juan Orlando Hernández has faced protests from different sectors since April, when workers from the Ministries of Health and Education demanded in the streets the repeal of decrees that could open the door to the privatization of both sectors. Although Hernandez issued a decree by which he does not authorize privatization or mass layoffs in these sectors, this did not prevent protesters from going out to protest.
Since then several demonstrations throughout the year have been carried out against the Honduran government. In June, a violent day of protests left at least two dead, there were riots and looting in appliance stores and fast food.
The violence in these protests caused the national government to take the army and the police to the streets, who confronted the protesters harshly, according to the organizers.
The crisis has not stopped in these months, and it even deepened after a jury in New York found Antonio 'Tony' Hernández, brother of the president of Honduras guilty, guilty of conspiring to transport drugs to the United States, illegal of weapons, conspiracy to use weapons and destructive devices and to make false statements to the authorities. His sentence is expected to be given in January 2020.
Hernandez pleaded not guilty to all charges and decided not to testify during the trial. The president said he and his family received the news with sadness, and questioned the conviction that he said was based "on testimonies of confessed murderers."
"On behalf of the Government of Honduras and its institutions, any false and irresponsible version that seeks to stain the name of Honduras in the wake of this ruling is rejected," he added.
Peru
On September 30, the president of Peru, Martín Vizcarra announced the dissolution of Congress due to “the factual denial of the (question of) trust” and called for new legislative elections.
Prior to this decision, thousands of people began protesting by pressing the executive to dissolve Congress. The anti-corruption marches in Peru - a country heavily plagued by this problem, and which has seen several of its former presidents linked to the Odebrecht investigation - took the streets of different cities. Thus, the protests called for, for example, that Congress be dissolved and that the country's attorney general, Pedro Chavarry, leave his post, something that finally happened in early January.
Once Vizcarra announced the dissolution of Congress, there were those who protested this decision, calling the president "dictator."
In response to this, the full Congress approved a motion for temporary disability against the president. In the end the measure did not prosper, and Martín Vizcarra is still president of Peru, with the Congress dissolved.
Ecuador
The elimination of fuel subsidies, a measure known as the "Paquetazo" of former President Lenin Moreno, was the trigger for massive protests that ended with days of chaos in several cities in Ecuador.
The violence escalated and there were confrontations between indigenous groups and other participants in the protests with the police. The episodes of violence were concentrated in the center of the capital and the areas near government buildings such as the headquarters of the National Assembly, where there were several people affected, including children, by tear gas and some injured by blows after sudden police actions .
On October 14, after a table of dialogues between the Government and the natives, President Lenin Moreno said that the controversial decree 883 that unleashed the crisis and would replace it with a new one would be without effect.
Moreno called the agreement "a solution for peace and for the country" and said the new decree will contain "the mechanisms to focus resources on those who need it most."
Chile
Protests in this country began in mid-October on account of the increase in the price of the Santiago metro tickets, (a measure that was withdrawn by President Sebastián Piñera days later), but since then they expanded, revealing a social discontent Among the Chileans.
As the days went by, the demonstrations did not stop and although Piñera asked for forgiveness, he announced an increase in pensions, the creation of a guaranteed minimum income and a mechanism to stabilize electricity prices, social unrest no longer had reverse.
In an interview with the Financial Times newspaper a week before the protests began, the president compared Chile with other Latin American countries ruined by economic and political turmoil and said "Chile seems like an oasis", but soon that oasis is It would become a nerve center of social protests in the region.
The Chileans made complaints about serious and systematic human rights violations committed by state agents in the last month, so the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, sent a verification mission to examine these complaints.
On November 15, the Chilean Congress announced an agreement to draft a new Constitution, which will replace that of the time of the dictator Augusto Pinochet of 1980, to achieve peace. For this, a referendum will be held in April 2020, in which citizens will be asked if they "approve or reject" a new constitution.
The mobilizations, which began with a social outbreak on October 18, have so far left 21 dead and more than two thousand people injured.
Bolivia
After almost 14 years in power, the president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, resigned from office in the midst of a social and political crisis triggered by allegations of fraud in the presidential elections of October 20. On November 10, Morales resigned.
Morales announced his resignation only hours after he promised that new elections would be held and that the country's electoral council would be replaced after a report by the Organization of American States (OAS). A series of alleged irregularities, which included failures in the chain of custody of ballots, alteration and falsification of electoral material, redirection of data to unauthorized servers and manipulation of data, impacted the official counting of votes, the OAS said.
The opposition Jeanine Áñez declared herself interim president of the Government of Bolivia, and the Constitutional Court of Bolivia endorsed her presidency. Morales left the country to Mexico, where he is exiled.
Demonstrations for and against the government have become violent, with protesters burning urns and clashes with riot police in several cities.
On November 21, a massive march and funeral in the center of La Paz, which moved the coffin of the eight people killed in clashes last Tuesday in Senkata, ended Thursday when security personnel used tear gas to disperse it.
According to data from the Ombudsman's Office, the death toll in protests across the country was 34 until November 21. The OAS adopted a resolution requesting to establish a calendar to convene, as soon as possible, national elections with democratic guarantees.
Colombia
Due to the social unrest with the government of President Iván Duque, several sectors called for marches on November 21, against the national government.
The national protest was convened by unions, students, indigenous people, professors and opposition political sectors to express disagreement over the increase in unemployment, the murder of social leaders and the possible reforms that could be presented by the government regarding pensions, labor and taxation, something that groups of students and unions called the "Duke package".
The discontent against the government of Iván Duque was reflected in the streets of several of the main cities such as Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Cartagena and Barranquilla, among others. The director of the National Police of Colombia, General Oscar Atehortua, reported that 313 activities were carried out, including marches, rallies and blockades.
At least three people died in the riots in Colombia on Thursday night after the national strike in protest against the government of President Ivan Duque, Defense Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo said. During the protest day, 98 people were arrested, in addition to eight minors. In addition, 151 members of the public force and 122 civilians were injured.
After a day of peaceful protests, violent starred in Bogotá and Cali, in the latter curfew was decreed. However, with a spontaneous cacerolazo in several cities of the country, the Colombians insisted on their peaceful demonstration, rejecting the Duke government.
Manifestations