Statement on the current situation in Colombia, rejecting police repression and the militarization of social protest

Colombia is experiencing an economic and social crisis that has worsened in recent years due to a government lacking leadership, which has exacerbated inequality and discontent. This was evident in the large-scale protests of 2019, and the pandemic has intensified and made it even more apparent due to the lack of clear measures from a government that has failed to take decisive action. Today, we have alarming figures that place the country third in Latin America in both infections and deaths (on par with Mexico and Brazil, much larger countries), as well as in vaccination rates, with only 3.7% of the population fully vaccinated. COVID-19 has disproportionately affected the poorest segments of the population, who must go out every day to earn a living. Urban unemployment stands at 18.2%, while underemployment reaches 10.5%. In previous days the National Statistics Department reported that monetary poverty is 42.5%, extreme poverty is 15% and the level of informal employment is 49%.

Last April, President Duque's government presented to Congress what would be the third tax reform since the beginning of his administration. The first was introduced after he took office in 2018 to address the fiscal deficit created by his government program. The second, approved amidst protests five months later in 2019, provided clear benefits to large corporations, arguing that such measures would promote job creation and introducing a VAT refund mechanism for low-income households. The new tax reform is justified by the impact of the pandemic on the Colombian economy and proposes to raise 26 trillion pesos (US$6,965,400,000), of which only 4.5 trillion would be allocated to social investment. Furthermore, of the intended revenue, 17 trillion would come from the lower and middle classes, while corporations would contribute only 3 trillion. Large corporations remain virtually untouched.

Despite this, the Colombian government, led by Iván Duque and supported by former president and right-wing senator Álvaro Uribe, has squandered a large sum of money on clearly unnecessary goods and services. These include expenditures during the pandemic, such as 9.5 billion pesos on ammunition for the ESMAD (Mobile Anti-Disturbance Squadron), 12 billion pesos on riot control vehicles, 9.6 billion pesos on 23 armored SUVs for the presidency, and 14 trillion pesos (US$3,750,623,800) allocated to the purchase of 24 F-16 fighter jets. In addition, nearly 15 billion pesos were invested in improving the Duque administration's image, including 6.832.000 pesos for the continuation of the daily television program hosted by the Colombian president.

As a result, a few weeks ago the government announced that Colombia was facing a resource shortage and that these funds would have to be obtained through borrowing. To this end, the government presented a controversial tax reform that sought to broaden the tax base, prevent further downgrades of Colombia's debt in international risk ratings, and create a fund for environmental conservation. The main criticism is that the reform intended to finance this deficit by taxing the middle class, which represents 33% of the population, while large corporations would enjoy significant tax breaks.

These factors, combined with the arrogant attitude of the president and the government, who have turned a deaf ear to the calls of the citizenry and shown contempt for them, led the Colombian people, spurred on by the National Strike Committee—a coalition of diverse social and labor organizations—and the Colombian youth who are directly experiencing the effects of unemployment and exclusionary policies, to unleash a social explosion that had been brewing since 2019. Despite the increased risk of contagion, a judge's attempt to force mayors to oppose the social protests, and the complicity of the media, this time the citizenry erupted with greater force. People of different ideologies, social strata, and regions have strongly protested against the economic policies the government wants to implement, to the point that there have already been seven days of massive protests, some peaceful and others marked by riots. Thus, the protest has been stained with the blood of Colombian citizens in the face of the violent wave of the armed forces promoted by former senator Uribe through his Twitter account, to the point that the social network had to block him, and legitimized by a presidential order that, given the public order situation, brought the Army into the streets as part of the containment measures, under the argument that the Police, a force of a civilian nature, is not enough to safeguard security.

Around midday on May 2nd, citizens achieved the initial goal of the protest: forcing the government to withdraw the tax reform. However, the momentum of the demonstration extends beyond this; even with the militarization of the cities, the strike continues. The Indigenous Minga from Cauca is heading towards Bogotá, along with some sectors, such as the transport workers, who have decided to join the mobilization. The strike continues, albeit with different demands: a review of the proposed new reform, the health and pension reforms currently being drafted, the need to strengthen small and medium-sized enterprises, the implementation of a universal basic income, the suspension of glyphosate fumigation, guarantees for the lives of community leaders, greater tax responsibility for the wealthy, more effective COVID-19 vaccination, and ensuring that crimes committed by the security forces do not go unpunished.

The figures for human rights violations by the Public Force are alarming. Colombian youth have literally put their bodies on the line, alternative media outlets are persecuted and censored, and officials protect government interests. From April 28 to May 3, there were 1181 cases of police violence, 142 victims of physical violence, 26 victims of homicide, 761 arbitrary detentions, 17 victims of eye injuries, 9 women victims of sexual violence, and 56 reports of disappearances. These are painful figures that continue to rise.

From the CLACSO Working Group on Art and Politics:

• We are making public the complex situation that Colombia is experiencing.
• We condemn acts of police brutality.
• We ask the international community to stand with and support the Colombian people in their fight for their rights.
• We demand an end to the militarization of social protest
• We demand the restoration of guarantees and freedoms for citizen mobilization.

4 May 2021
CLACSO Working Groups
Art and politics

This statement expresses the position of the Working Group Art and politics and not necessarily that of the centers and institutions that make up the CLACSO international network, its Steering Committee or its Executive Secretariat.