Duque tries to promote a new tax reform in Colombia

Demonstrators participate this Monday in another day of protest against police violence and the economic policies of the Government of Iván Duque, in Bogotá.Carlos Ortega / EFE

The president of Colombia lives difficult days. Iván Duque tries to promote a new tax reform necessary for the country's economy, although this time with more consensus and support than the previous one. It will not be easy for you. 11 months before a general election, few parties and congressmen are going to join such an unpopular measure on the street. Another failure of the fiscal adjustment in Congress will greatly weaken the president, who will face the end of his term with very little expectations.

Duque withdrew his most ambitious project on Sunday after four days of strong street protests. This Monday he met with his Minister of Finance, Alberto Carrasquilla, the ideologist of the reform, in question after seeing his plan fail. Opposition politicians are asking the minister to resign if he does not want to face a vote of no confidence. Former conservative president Andrés Pastrana has also asked him to leave. The matter is now in Duque's hands. It remains to be seen whether he will keep this economist with a reputation for being orthodox, very close to Álvaro Uribe, in office, or will he seek a new face that will generate more consensus.

Another of the ministers questioned is that of the Interior, Daniel Palacios. The mostly peaceful protests led to clashes between the police and protesters. The balance, for now, is 16 dead, including an agent. As the stories of the victims become known, such as that of Santiago Andrés Murillo, a 19-year-old young man who, according to witnesses, was shot in the chest by a police officer when he was demonstrating normally, criticism for the action grows. of the security forces. The video of the moment in which the boy's mother identifies the body of her son in the morgue has frozen Colombians.

The organizers of the strike that overthrew the tax reform, sustained against all odds by President Duque to try to square the deficit left by the pandemic, continue in their thirteen and assure that they will not go home. These days they have not stopped blocking roads and marching through the streets. A labor union called for another large mobilization on Wednesday, this time to demand the disappearance of Esmad, the Colombian riot police, and the aerial spraying with glyphosate, a herbicide that destroys coca plantations, but also damages the rest of the crops. The reasons are now the least, the fact is that the withdrawal of the reform has not finished calming the spirits of the protesters.

The very members of the Uribe Democratic Center, where Duque is a member, supported the decision. Facing the 2022 elections, the tax reform would have been deadly for their interests. Eight out of 10 Colombians assure that they will not vote for congressmen who support it. Uribe, the absolute leader of that party, agrees with the president that it is necessary to increase state revenue in order, for example, to extend social assistance to the poorest, although he differs with him on the forms and time. Duque has tried to raise taxes at a very tough time for Colombia, with a very aggressive third wave of Covid that breaks records of infections and deaths. The shortage of oxygen cylinders has only increased the problems.

Duque has the support of economic experts and risk rating agencies in his intention to increase taxes. The diagnosis is shared in the gatherings, the country needs to raise more to reduce debt and combat poverty and inequality, triggered after the pandemic. But the reality is that the most ambitious project of his tenure has stalled, perhaps forever, and the street has risen against him. Above all the youngest, who are the ones who have led the protests, ironically with the youngest president in the history of Colombia, who has not managed to connect with them in his three years in office. The age group that most supports the president, according to polls, is those over 50 years of age.

Vandalism within the protests, which occurs mainly at night, is an obvious problem that the security forces have had to face.

There are 457 police officers injured and 364 arrested, including 30 minors.

To stop those riots, Duque announced Saturday night that the military would patrol the most burned cities if the governors and mayors required it.

The idea sparked a wave of criticism out of fear of even greater bloodshed.

Duque's next move was to withdraw the reform the next day.

Duque has several very tough weeks ahead of him, where his remaining political capital is at stake.

A new failure in the negotiations will greatly hinder his last months as president of the nation.

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