Thousands of people marched this monday september 26, in the main cities of Colombia against measures such as raising taxes on the rich and the agrarian reform proposed by the President Gustav Petro who took office in August.
(See: Maduro and all Chavismo celebrated the reopening of the border).
In Bogotá, the demonstrators mobilized through the streets of the center and concentrated in the Plaza de Bolívar, next to the Casa de Nariño, under the slogan “Out, Petro!“.
“He promised a change in general policy, but surrounded himself with corrupt politicians. that’s cheating“he told the agency. AFP Orlando Novoa, 60 years old and owner of a construction company with about 30 employees.
Petro has presented a battery of reforms that seek to increase taxes on the rich, stop oil exploration and distribute fertile land among peasants ‘landless’, among others.
(See: President Petro asks to accelerate the homologation of Venezuelan titles).
To carry out these initiatives, he formed a majority legislative coalition with the support of several traditional parties.
“The country needs a manager, Petro is a politician“, asserted Cristóbal Osorio, a 16-year-old student in Bogotá.
In the capital, dozens of young people who mobilized in defense of the president exchanged insults and shoves with their opponents, forcing the intervention of officials from the Mayor’s Office, confirmed a photographer from the AFP.
(See: Petro proposes an integration zone between Norte de Santander and Táchira).
In Cali, Bucaramanga and Medellín they also came out to march, especially in a massive way in the capital of Antioquia, where a journalistic team of the state channel Telemedellin was attacked by protesters and had to abandon the coverage, according to the NGO Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP).
Protests against the Petro government.
‘Respect for private property’
The arrival of Petro to power encouraged indigenous and other peasants to forcefully occupy dozens of properties, in what is emerging as one of the first social conflicts of the unprecedented leftist government, which has rejected these invasions.
In Cali, for example, hundreds of people dressed in white and raised signs that read “Respect for private property” either “Petro encourages crime rather than production“.
(See: Bolsonaro’s words against Petro to attack Lula, in Brazil).
The president militated for 12 years in the M-19, a nationalist guerrilla of urban origin who signed the peace in 1990.
“It is a dishonor to have a president who was a guerrilla (…) I am outraged!“, lamented, in Bogotá, Manuela Hernández, 62 years old and owner of a bathing suit company.
Protests against the Petro government.
Currently, Congress is debating a tax reform project presented by the Government that aspires to tax the upper classes more to finance with new resources its social programs against poverty and inequality.
Petro’s predecessor, Iván Duque (2018-2022), faced massive protests in 2019, 2020 and 2021, led by young people and vulnerable sectors.
The bloodiest occurred in 2021, when then President Duque tried taxing the middle class to cope with the ravages of the pandemic, which unleashed violent demonstrations that lasted for two months and left 46 dead, including civilians and police, according to the UN.
(See: The harsh criticism of US senators against President Petro).
AFP
