The increase in physical violence has been accompanied by frequent Internet and electricity cuts to strengthen censorship.
9 May 2021
The national strike in Colombia entered its 12th day Sunday registering 47 people killed, 39 of them murdered by president Ivan Duque’s police.
The Institute for Peace Studies (Indepaz) reported that there are 47 fatalities instead of 27 as an official report claims.
“Citizens are learning to record violence because they are tired of it because they want to break the cycle of impunity because they can’t take it anymore,” NGO Temblores stated on its official Twitter account.
Similarly, these two NGOs reported at least 963 arbitrary detentions and 12 cases of sexual violence.
Once again I am tweeting this to spread awareness about what is happening in Colombia because no one is talking about it. pic.twitter.com/wKDh2C9lz8
— . (@sylviplorson) May 8, 2021
“Duque’s government has not understood that the country is living under special circumstances, whose solution requires a response beyond the traditional political agreements. Colombians in the streets are demanding the President’s resignation, more State support to the most affected one by the current crisis, a police reform, and the cancellation of the health reform” national daily El Espectador said in its editorial.
The United Nations (UN) made a call for calm to avoid a spiral of violence, but the Government has intensified night raids against protesters.
In Colombia, a protest that began as a pushback against more taxes is into its 11th day as anger over poverty, inequality, and police brutality fuel demonstrations across the country pic.twitter.com/G3VLxQBzSR
— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) May 8, 2021
The repression in Colombia is not only physical. Selective internet and electricity cuts have been registered in the main protest areas, to strengthen the censorship and prevent further mobilization.
Behind all this violence is the hand of former president Alvaro Uribe, who is in control of the ministries of Defense and the Interior., said Gustavo Petro, an opposition senator and former presidental candidate.
Published at www.telesurenglish.net
