Protests in Colombia, rumors from Bogota: “So much fear, but hope is alive”
“Urban terrorism”, “violent vandalism”, so the Colombian president Ivan Duque summarized the popular protests that have swept across the country since 28 April. Harsh and sharp words that, in a delicate historical moment like this, are almost “out of tune”, confirming a complete perceptual disconnect between what the political class sees and what the square invokes. Colombian citizens have already made specific requests to the center-right government since November 2019: bridging the social gap, implementing fairer economic policies, proposing targeted reforms and fighting corruption.
However, these petitions are still in search of an answer today. After a year, marked by the pandemic and from an unprecedented economic crisis, which recorded a decline in GDP of 6.8%, bringing the unemployment above 16%, and the poverty rate at 42.5%, the nation has experienced a period of stalemate and subsequent decline. In fact, financial resources have gradually changed, social tensions have accelerated, and the weight of the pandemic has gradually increased, reaching 2.9 million infections and 6,015 deaths per 50 million inhabitants.
In this unstable context, the tax reform, much debated and criticized, was only “the straw that broke the camel’s back”, which had been overflowing for some time. According to critics, the bill would have benefited the business class, further damaging the lower-middle class. But even after the withdrawal announced by President Ivan Duque, the Colombian people continued to take to the streets, addressing the same demands to the government: reforms to health, education, security of the country and less military investment.
So along with the discontent has also grown violence: at least 24 people died during the riots and more than 850 were injured. Although according to some local NGOs, including Temblores, the toll is even higher than estimated, with at least 37 victims. In recent days, for example, in Cali, the third largest city in the country, a policeman shot Marcelo Agredo Inchima, a 17-year-old boy who was participating in the protest. While in the north of the city, Nicolás Guerrero, a 22-year-old young man who was filming clashes between demonstrators and state forces, lost his life. But even in the capital, in Bogota, the climate was tense. Mayor Claudia López said: “The level of destruction and violence and attacks on citizens and public goods are very unusual. I ask the city and the country to stop and talk ”.
The situation of great instability it has also stirred up several international appeals. First of all that of the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Marta Hurtado, who declared “strong concern for the ongoing violence”. The European Union said: “The priority is to put an end to the escalation of violence and avoid a disproportionate use of force by the security forces.” In the same vein, the United States confirmed the need to “avoid the loss of other lives “. Locally, the Colombian Minister of the Interior, Daniel Palacios, has launched an “appeal for non-violence”, completely detaching himself from the words of Colombian President Ivan Duque, increasingly distant from a possible re-election next year. In fact, according to the local poll published by the Spanish newspaper El Country, 74% of young people consider him a “disadvantageous” subject, while his national popularity has dropped by 33%.
Student testimonials at affaritaliani.it
And these are just numbers, percentages, consensus and estimates, perhaps unable to convey the full picture of a much broader and more complex crisis. From Bogota, a group of young university students interviewed by Affaritaliani.it, tells a cross-section of the square, which lives suspended between the fears generated by the pandemic, the fear of the explosion of an unmanageable crisis, economic uncertainties and future hopes.
“In the streets of Bogota and throughout the country there is an air of instability, fear and fear, but also the desire for change and unity in the face of something so great”, he declares Farid, Law student of the University of the Rosario. “Since I was born, my country has gone through many crises, but never as big as this one. In my future I see a lot of uncertainty, but one thing is clear to me: we young people are the generation that is moving the strike, we really want to see a change ”. “I took to the streets to protest peacefully amidst music, drums, flutes, saxophones and bass drums. I hope the government is aware of all this, ”Farid concludes. For Ana Maria instead, a student of Management Engineering at the University of Los Andes, “the situation is horrible, violence is everywhere. I feel very helpless, because at any moment I don’t know what will happen. Inside of me I perceive a lot of anguish ”.
While Daniel, industrial engineer and economics student at the University of Los Andes, takes stock of the causes of the unrest: “The tax reform is not the starting point nor the generator of the protests, the reality is that the government takes more into consideration its image and what interests him, rather than the demands of citizens. And people are tired of all this. It is a feeling of “defeat” which unfortunately has been going on for a long time “.
In the same vein too Wilmar, musician of the National University, “the malaise in Colombia has been rampant for several years. The government has never been able to hear all the voices: it calls vandals those who protest in peace, they want to silence the students, when in reality people are only claiming their rights ”. “But some signs say We are going to make it (we’ll make it): there is hope and it is still intact ”, concludes Wilmar. Sofia, a student of Politics and Economics at the University of Los Andes, declares: “We students are so afraid, but I think something good is being done. I hope the government begins to listen to its citizens ”.
Among the group, the voice of Juan Pablo, a law student who says: “We young people have the task of carrying out the project of a country that we do not yet have. With a terrible virus, the Colombian people took to the streets: this already says a lot “. David, with a degree in Finance, instead looks to the future and says: “The real problem will be how to reposition yourself after the pandemic”.
Finally, Mariana Student of Political Science and Economics at the University of Los Andes, reveals: “Not only the pandemic, the ineptitude of the government and the high deaths, there are many problems that push people to protest. I believe everyone is guided by positive feelings. The people are asking for a different and better country, and this is already a reason for struggle and hope ”.