According to local officials and advocacy organizations, bloody, violent demonstrations have raged across Colombia for the past ten days, leaving at least 26 people dead and more than 900 wounded.
On April 28, protests erupted in Bogota, Medellin, Cali, and other cities, denouncing President Iván Duque's planned tax hike, which critics argue would lift food prices and taxes for more middle-class workers. According to The Associated Press, the initiative was designed to relieve the government of the financial burden caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Duque canceled the plan on Sunday, citing public uproar, and the country's finance minister resigned the next day.
However, the protest movement has expanded since then, sparked by outrage over the violent police response, and the demands now include broad social reforms as well as police reform.
Despite the fact that the majority of the demonstrations have been peaceful, police have been attacked and many police stations have been set on fire.
The country's Ombudsman Office and Attorney General's Office announced 26 deaths related to the protests on Thursday, as well as 145 cases of suspected disappearances, 55 of which have been located and 90 of which are still being investigated.
Thousands of people flooded the streets, Colombian riot police fired tear gas canisters at crowds, appearing to shoot protesters dead in the head, and demonstrators threw rocks at policemen, according to footage and images from the violent clashes.
Marcelo Agredo, a 17-year-old who was reportedly fatally shot by a police officer on April 28 in Cali, Colombia, is among the dead. Agreda appears to kick a police officer on a motorcycle in video from the incident before the officer fires. His death is being investigated by the authorities.
Since the start of the revolt, the United Nations Human Rights Office has received 22 accounts of deaths in demonstrations, including 21 people and one police officer, according to ABC News. All cases are being confirmed, according to the office.
Temblores, a local activist organization, recorded 37 deaths, 234 injuries, and 923 arrests as a result of the protests.
“What is happening in Colombia is a massacre,” Ana, a 34-year-old tourism sector employee in Bogota who did not want to reveal her last name for privacy purposes, told ABC News.
“The government refuses to listen to us, and we have no other option,” she said. “I've been going for nice walks with friends every day. We can see undercover officers, who tried to kill us on Monday. "I was not hurt."
“I wasn't always a militant. But we need money to survive... we need to return to work... and we are expected to live in a democracy,” she said.
Colombia's government invited opposition leaders to a meeting on Thursday to address the people's demands.
According to Blu Radio, presidential adviser Miguel Ceballos said the government would meet with the National Strike Committee on Monday to address key demands of the people. The National Strike Committee represents numerous groups including indigenous peoples, unions, environmentalists, and students.
The protests drew on previous demonstrations in 2019 against corruption and injustice, as well as last year's protests against police brutality. Many of these frustrations were compounded during the pandemic, when Colombia was hit by waves of the virus, resulting in lockdowns that put the country's economy under pressure.
According to The Associated Press, the tax package sought to raise $6.7 billion to pay off the country's debts and sustain a basic income program for 3 million low-income citizens that began during the pandemic.
According to a study by Colombia's National Administrative Department of Statistics, the country's economy shrank by 7% last year as a result of the coronavirus epidemic, and poverty increased to 43% from 36%. Furthermore, as of March, 16.8% of Colombians were unemployed in 13 major cities and metropolitan areas.
According to Reuters, the National Federation of Fuel and Energy Distributors (Fendipetroleo) said in a statement that the protests had disrupted gasoline supplies across the region.
"As a result of the national strike, we've seen fuel shortages," Fendipetroleo said, citing cities such as Cali, Ibague, and Pereira, as well as other municipalities and provinces.
The United States has walked a fine line between condemning the deaths and encouraging the Colombian government to exercise restraint in order to help its vital partner in the region, which is still suffering from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, economic collapse, and the crisis in Venezuela.
Jalina Porter, a spokesman for the US State Department, said on Tuesday that the US was "deeply saddened by the loss of life during demonstrations" and defended Colombians' right to demonstrate.
"People of democratic countries around the world have an unalienable right to peaceful protest," she said.
If "violence and vandalism" are "abuses of that right," the US also urged "the utmost restraint by the public powers to avoid additional loss of life."
Porter said the US respects Duque's "commitment to investigate allegations of police excesses and resolve any abuse of human rights" and supports his "government's attempts to address the current situation through political engagement," while she stopped short of criticizing police and military use of force.
Colombia's security forces have been accused of using disproportionate force against demonstrators by the United Nations' human rights office.
The United Nations System in Colombia issued a statement on Friday condemning the "disproportionate use of force" stated and calling for the "guarantee of the right to peaceful assembly and protest."
"Any action taken by security forces must completely respect and protect human rights," according to the declaration.
Colombian celebrities have taken to social media to criticize the government's and police's repression of demonstrators.
"Bullets will never be able to erase the voice of the one who struggles," Shakira tweeted. And it's important that we don't turn a blind eye to our own cries."
"Care for lives," singer Maluma wrote on Instagram. There will be no more deaths or aggressions."
