Colombia-A Powder Keg

COLOMBIA

Powder Keg

Colombians took to the streets of the capital, Bogota, over the weekend in a third day of protests against austerity measures and state corruption, the BBC reported.

The anti-government demonstrations began last week and soon turned violent, leading to the death of at least three people.

Protesters are angry over possible pension and labor reforms and criticized the government for failing to hold to the 2016 peace deal with the leftwing FARC rebels.

The government has denied they plan to make reforms to the pension and labor system. Meanwhile, President Ivan Duque promised to deepen the “social dialogue” with Colombians over their concerns.

Colombia is the latest South American nation to be gripped by unrest in recent months, following protests in Chile and in Bolivia.

In Bolivia, protests and claims over election fraud forced long-time leftist President Evo Morales to resign.

Morales vowed to return but Bolivian lawmakers on Saturday approved new presidential elections and barred Morales, who fled the country, from running, CBS News reported.

Colombia: The Angry Street

COLOMBIA

The Angry Street

Colombia’s government announced earlier this week that it was closing its nation’s borders as part of a series of measures to stamp out protests planned for later this week amid increasing unrest in the country, the Guardian reported.

Tens of thousands of protesters are expected to take to the streets Thursday against the right-wing government of President Ivan Duque, whose popularity has dropped since he took office in 2018.

The rallies will focus on several issues, including Duque’s proposed austerity measures and his slow peace deal with leftist rebel group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (or FARC) among others.

“The government is worried because the people and organizations who have come out in support of the protest are more heterogeneous than they are used to,” said Sergio Guzman, the director of Colombia Risk Analysis. “It’s not only the labor unions, or the students, or indigenous people – it’s all of them.”

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