Tens of thousands of demonstrators protested Wednesday April 28 in Colombia against a tax reform project by right-wing President Ivan Duque in this country, in the middle of the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic which is affecting its economic situation.
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Several unions of workers, teachers, as well as indigenous associations and other sectors reject this project, which is currently being examined in parliament, believing that it is detrimental to the middle class and that it is inappropriate in the midst of the crisis. sanitary. "We do not accept the tax reform, we think about our children, about ourselves (...) We are dying of the virus or we are starving,"
Victor Cordoba, a 33-year-old shoemaker told AFP. , wearing a T-shirt with the colors yellow, blue, red of the Colombian flag.
In Bogotá, thousands of demonstrators, protected by masks, rallied in several processions, most of them peaceful, the historic heart of the capital, where the seat of the presidency and the parliament are located.
To the sound of drums and carrying signs with slogans such as
"Long live the national strike"
or
"No more taxes, no more VAT"
, some blocked traffic on the avenues of the city, in particular dozens of taxis, trucks and motorcycles honking their horns.
The mobilization was also important in other cities, in particular in Medellin (north-west) and Cali (south-west).
We are tired of the abuses towards the population (...) that our president does nothing against it.
The government scares us more than the virus.
"
Felipe Zapata, 24-year-old protester
The Defense Ministry has deployed 47,500 law enforcement officers throughout Colombia and reports some unrest in Cali.
Indigenous people of the Misak ethnic group knocked down the statue of the Spanish conquistador Sebastian de Belalcazar there.
The mayor of the city, Jorge Ivan Ospina, reported a death in facts
"related to the demonstration"
and brought forward to 1 pm local the curfew imposed because of the pandemic until Sunday at the end of afternoon.
Colombia exceeded the 400 daily deaths from Covid-19 for the first time on April 19 and since then they have not decreased, while intensive care units in hospitals are under pressure.
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This day of mobilization was organized at the call of the National Strike Committee, initiator since 2019 of multiple demonstrations to demand a change of policy from the conservative president, whose mandate ends in August 2022. Some had, however, asked for its cancellation of the fact. of the worsening pandemic.
With more than 2.8 million cases of Covid-19, Colombia is the third most affected country in Latin America after Brazil and Argentina, and comes for the number of deaths (72,200) behind the Brazilian giant and Mexico.
An administrative court ordered mayors on Tuesday to ban gatherings.
The Defender of the People, a public body for the protection of human rights, for his part underlined the
"disadvantage of convening social mobilizations at this time so risky for health and life"
.
But claiming the right to demonstrate, the organizers maintained them, calling for respect for health protection measures.
"We are tired of the abuses towards the population (...) that our president does nothing against that.
The government scares us more than the virus, ”
said Felipe Zapata, 24, who was demonstrating in Bogotá.
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President Duque's popularity has steadily declined since coming to power in 2018 and currently stands at 33%, according to the latest survey from the Invamer Institute. Although he presented his reform as a tool to mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic, with the collection of some 6.3 billion additional dollars between 2022 and 2031, his project faces obstacles in parliament for lack of a majority. .
According to Yann Basset, professor of political science at the University of Rosario,
"each sector sees this as a reason for discontent at a time when the economic situation is obviously very difficult for everyone"
. The reform plans in particular to tax people earning the equivalent of more than 656 dollars per month, in a country where the minimum wage is only 248 dollars and whose GDP fell by 6.8% in 2020, with unemployment at 18.1% in February.
