Byline Times — The Colombia Uprisings Offer a Warning About Post-Pandemic Unrest Across the Developing World
Protestors are facing physical and sexual violence amid police crackdowns of anti-Government dissent, reports Nadja Sieniawski
As food prices rise and cities disintegrate into scenes last seen during the country’s bitter civil war, Colombia continues to be rocked by unprecedented anti-Government protests.
Originally erupting in response to a proposed tax reform, the nationwide protests have turned into an uprising demanding radical change for the Andean country. But as the protests continue — largely ignored by the international media — hopes of change are beginning to wane, and human suffering is growing.
The protests began as peaceful marches on 28 April across the country, from Colombia’s capital Bogotá to lively Cali, historic Popayán and many smaller cities.
In response to the economic challenges posed by COVID-19, Colombian President Iván Duque proposed a tax reform which would have seen an increase in utility and food prices, as well as a hike in income tax for both lower and higher earners. A year into the pandemic, the country’s economic downturn has pushed more than three-and-a-half million Colombians into poverty.
“At first, the protests were really beautiful,” Daniela Agudelo Pinta and Jonathan Grajales Delgado, youth activists from Buga, a town north-west of Cali, told Byline Times. “We were all united like never before, one family standing up for our rights.”
However, while the protests were successful in halting the proposed tax reform, they soon turned violent as Colombian’s militarised anti-riot police unit, the Escuadrón Móvil Antidisturbios (ESMAD), cracked down on protestors with the use of tear gas, water cannons and lethal weaponry.
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