Crisis in Colombia

A vigil in Cali in honor of the protesters who died during the protests against the government of Iván Duque.LUIS ROBAYO / AFP

The wave of protests unleashed in Colombia against the failed tax reform has resulted in a trail of blood that the Government must urgently put an end to.

The president, Iván Duque, has to summon a great unity pact, put an end to police abuses and purge responsibilities.

With 20 dead on the asphalt, you can no longer look the other way.

The fact that the mobilizations have continued after Duque withdrew his fiscal project last Saturday shows the depth of citizen unrest. The tax reform was the trigger for an exhaustion generated by inequality and the increase in poverty, factors that the pandemic has triggered and that already took thousands of people to the streets at the end of 2019. This has been joined by police repression intolerable, criticized for a long time by many political sectors, civil society and international organizations and of which this week the United Nations and the European Union have come to warn.

Police brutality is something that has been warned about since the 2019 protests. Statements such as those of former President Álvaro Uribe, who encouraged the security forces to use arms, help nothing in this regard. Colombia, with a recent history marked by violence, does not need any of its leaders to add fuel to the fire.

It is time for all Colombian political actors to put aside any type of electoral calculation and assume responsibility with the citizens. The hesitations of the president, who on the one hand calls to build a national dialogue and on the other is studying the possibility of declaring a state of internal commotion, must stop. Iván Duque would do well to listen to the claims of those who have come out to protest, the vast majority peacefully, while curbing the excesses of the public order forces that, ultimately, depend on him.