In figures: damages and economic losses due to the national strike in Colombia

HRW presents report on "police brutality" in Colombia 3:53

(CNN Spanish) -

The national strike in Colombia that has lasted for almost a month and a half has left economic losses of almost US $ 3,000 million, according to the Ministry of Finance, a situation that according to businessmen and the government itself is deteriorating capacity economy of the country, and in the short term it affects the less favored classes.

Days of blockades in the main roads of the country have generated an increase in food prices, millionaire losses of agricultural products and a threat to the economic recovery of the country that had already been suffering due to the pandemic crisis, according to the government and business sectors .

These are the losses and damages left by the national strike in Colombia.

1. Human losses and damages against protesters

The mobilizations in Colombia began with the presentation of a tax reform project, which according to its critics would affect the most vulnerable classes in the country.

The government withdrew the reform in May, the finance minister resigned, but social discontent grew stronger.

The demonstrations have not stopped since then and have at times turned violent.

Government responds to HRW report on police abuse 4:52

So far the strike has left:

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Dead

The protests have left dozens of deaths, figures that vary according to different reports.

• There are 45 dead in the framework of the demonstrations until June 4, says the most recent report from the Ministry of Defense.

• 21 dead and 11 more in the process of clarification, according to a recent Human Rights Watch report.

• 45 protesters killed allegedly at the hands of the security forces, according to the NGO Temblores.

Police Inspector General Jorge Luis Ramírez said a few weeks ago that his office is investigating 170 cases of abuse at the hands of the police.

Eleven of those cases are directly related to the deaths of protesters at the hands of the police.

Also:

• 1,108 people injured, according to the Ministry of Defense.

• 65 eye injuries, according to the NGO Tremors.

• 114 missing persons, according to the Human Rights Watch report;

  78 cases of people reported missing according to the Ministry of Defense.

The National Police told CNN that at the moment there are 11 investigations in the General Inspection of the Police for eye injuries due to events that occurred in Bogotá, Popayán, Neiva, Medellín and Risaralda.

The investigations are for alleged physical assault or alleged abuse of authority, police said.

Protests and blockades

• From April 28 to June 4, 12,478 social protest activities have been carried out in 862 municipalities of the 32 departments, according to the Ministry of Defense.

During the protests, 3,190 blockades were carried out in 26 departments and 241 municipalities of the country.

Most of them have been carried out in: Valle del Cauca 230 (27%), Cundinamarca 75 (8.9%), Bogotá, 64 (7.6%), Risaralda 59 (7.0%), Boyacá 57 (6 , 8%) and Cesar 43 (5.1%).

These blockades, says the Ministry of Defense in its protest report, are "strategic sites to affect supply at the national level."

According to the Ministry of Finance, in May, due to road blockades, food prices increased, particularly affecting the most vulnerable classes: 1.5% for the poorest and 0.5% for the upper classes.

The National Trade Union Council, which groups 29 unions throughout the country, warned this Monday that about 800,000 jobs are at risk due to the blockades.

And according to a recent survey by the National Association of Colombian Entrepreneurs, ANDI, 84% of the country's companies have been affected by the blockades.

Jorge Bedoya, president of the Society of Farmers of Colombia, said on CNN in mid-May that blockades in the country do not allow the distribution of products, and products such as pork, beef and other products are being spoiled.

• Human Rights Watch denounces "police brutality" in protests in Colombia: "Duque's Police Reform is cosmetic"

Colombia's pork sector in crisis due to blockades 2:43

Economic losses

According to the government, when it was going to be a month of strike in Colombia, in May, the blockades and demonstrations had left economic losses of 10.3 billion pesos, just over US $ 2.8 billion.

According to the Minister of Finance, José Manuel Restrepo, in a statement on May 22, daily losses amounted to 480,000 million pesos, about US $ 132 million of economic losses every day.

However, Restrepo clarified that this occurred in the first days of the strike, but that this has been decreasing with the opening of roads that the government has advanced since then.

The National Trade Union Council said on Monday that the strike has produced losses of 11 billion pesos, the equivalent of about US $ 3,000 million.

"What is more delicate is that the blockades imply that the recovery will be much more complex for all purposes of being able to contribute as we want to be part of the solution of the business sector," said Julián Domínguez Rivera, president of the CGN on the public channel from Bogotá, Canal Capital.

Infrastructure damage

According to the Ministry of Defense, in the stipulated period, the following have been affected by acts of vandalism:

• 151 government infrastructures

• 28 tolls

• 4 weighing scales

• 25 cultural assets

• 150 security cameras

• 55 cameras fine

• 111 traffic lights

• Impact on 679 police facilities

• 536 police vehicles

• 438 private commercial establishments

• 456 bank offices

• 1,201 public transport vehicles

• 236 public transport stations

• 21 private motorcycles

• 91 service stations

• 432 ATMs

Finally, in Bogotá, the Transmilenio public transport system has been affected by 44% with 103 of its 139 stations disabled due to "criminal action," according to the report from the Ministry of Defense.

"Repairing the damage caused can take 6 months or more, with a cost that all citizens will have to pay of more than US $ 5 and a half million dollars," says the report.

Protests in Colombia