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(CNN Spanish) - With chants, banners and multiple claims, the day of demonstrations in Colombia started on Thursday called for several sectors and social organizations. 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.
One of the events that marked the demonstrations, as recognized by the authorities, is that they mostly passed peacefully until the afternoon, except for some isolated events. According to Interior Minister Nancy Patricia Gutierrez, there was "a fairly positive citizen participation in practically" throughout the country. However, at nightfall in Bogotá, capital of the country, there were some clashes between the Public Force and the protesters. In the Plaza de Bolívar, downtown, the people who concentrated there were dispersed by the Public Force.
Also in the town of Suba, another area of Bogotá, the concentration of people was dispersed with tear gas, because, according to the Bogotá Metropolitan Police, protesters used barricades to block the road. The incidents of violence in that locality did not cease until the night.
The situation was a little more tense in the city of Cali, to the southwest of Colombia, where units of the Mobile Riot Squadron (ESMAD) intervened in front of the Universidad del Valle, because according to General Atehortua, the protesters “attacked the Public Force” , and also intended to cause damage to the facilities of the Colombian Institute of Educational Credit and Technical Studies Abroad, ICETEX, a student credit institution.
In fact, in the afternoon the mayor of Cali, Maurice Armitage, the curfew from 7:00 pm, arguing "violent events that tarnished" the national strike. And he warned that those who are outside at that time, may be arrested by the authorities, ”he added.
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On the other hand, it was striking that in Medellín, capital of the department of Antioquia, Rodrigo Londoño marched, aka 'Timochenko', who was the commander of the now demobilized FARC and the current leader of the FARC party. Londoño demobilized after the Peace agreement in 2016.
The former Minister of Finance Mauricio Cárdenas said in an interview with Gabriela Frías, of CNN in Spanish, that “the country in general, perhaps tired of so much violence of so many years because of the armed conflict is very aware that violence does not lead anywhere " And he added that one of the reasons for widespread social unrest is "because you don't see a very clear, very clear agenda," which in his opinion has recently "reduced the government's strength."
For his part, Nelson Alarcón, president of the Colombian Federation of Education Workers (Fecode), one of the organizers of the strike, said Thursday that "today millions of Colombians show President Iván Duque that we are the best," and added that they are going to "defeat the neo-liberal politics of President Iván Duque."
And the Unitary Central of Workers (CUT) said that "it has been the expression of a new Colombia, another possible Colombia." The CUT, one of the largest unions in the country, immediately requested a meeting with President Iván Duque in a statement to "discuss the reasons and reasons for this strike."
The cacerolazo that resonated after the marches
At nightfall an unmistakable clink began to be felt in several sectors of Bogotá: the pans rang for an extended period in the capital. At some points, even people left their homes on the streets again. Even the elected mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López, expressed on her Twitter account the "cacerolazo that rejects and condemns all forms of violence."
Later, after 10:00 pm, President Iván Duque addressed the citizens in a brief speech, rejecting the acts of violence after the marches, which he described as "pure vandalism." He said that “students, workers, artists and the vast majority of people who mobilized did so with the legitimate intention of making their voice felt. And we listen to them. ” He also talked about the capture of "dozens" of criminals.
According to the director of the Police Óscar Atehortúa at night, 36 people were captured and prosecuted for manufacturing and carrying weapons, narcotics, violence against public servants, launching dangerous substances, obstruction of public roads and damage to the property of others. (MS 15605643). Previously he had mentioned at least 42 people were treated in hospitals, mainly because of “gas inhalation and injuries and bruises” and that 37 police were also injured. 15605583
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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".
BogotáCaliIván DuqueParo Nacional in Colombia