2024-09-06 10:26:28
In the midst of a new day of strikes by freight transporters, Gustavo Bolívar, director of the Department of Social Prosperity, has issued a strong message about the truckers’ protests in Colombia.
The mobilization, which has intensified due to the rise in diesel prices, has generated a debate on the legitimacy and impact of the demonstrations on the economy. and the daily life of Colombians.
Bolívar, known for his role as a former senator, stressed that while all protests have a legitimate space in democracy and must be heard, the current truckers’ protest does not have such a solid justification. like other recent social movements. “All protests are legitimate, all of them,” he said, recalling that the government has respected expressions of dissent during its mandate. However, he pointed out that in this particular case, the truckers are using force to obtain benefits, which in his opinion negatively affects other sectors of the country.
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The director of Prosperidad Social drew a parallel with the social outbreak of 2021, highlighting that the circumstances are very different.The social outbreak was not caused by a fuel price hikewas presented for a tax reform that taxed food with VAT. This is a totally different case,” explained Bolívar, referring to the deep crisis that was experienced at that time.
Despite his role in the government, Bolívar was emphatic in pointing out that progressivism has never supported blockades as a form of protest, neither when they were in the opposition nor now in power. “We have never agreed with that, not even during the social uprising; it is a story that was spread there but we have never agreed with the blockades. What we are saying is that people have the right to protest and the government has to listen to all protests, today it is that of the truck drivers, what happens is that we have to explain to the country that this protest is not so justified.”
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