Rejection of violence at the National Pedagogical University in Bogotá

The CLACSO Colombia Member Centers We strongly reject the violence perpetrated against the students and professors of the National Pedagogical University (UPN) in Bogotá, by the public force of the so-called: «Dialogue and Order Maintenance Unit» (UNDMO).

In light of these regrettable events, we stand in solidarity with all members of the university community and insist that all forms of stigmatization and criminalization of social mobilization by the Mayor's Office of Bogotá are, without exception, unacceptable.

Over the past few weeks, the university community of the National Pedagogical University has expressed its condemnation of the systematic attacks against students on Bogotá's public transportation system, in the context of the protests against TransMilenio fares. On the night of Friday, May 8, the intervention of the UNDMO (National Union of Students of Bogotá) constituted yet another episode of police brutality, despite the peaceful nature of the student mobilization.

Likewise, we emphatically condemn the murders of the student and journalist Mateo Pérez Rueda in the municipality of Briceño in the department of Antioquia. In these moments of profound sadness, we extend our deepest condolences to his family and the university community of the Faculty of Humanities and Economics at the National University of Colombia (Medellín campus). We also condemn the murder of the student. Gabriel Arenas Herazo from the University of Antioquia.

We join the many voices demanding swift investigations and justice for these reprehensible crimes.

We continue to condemn all forms of violence perpetrated by armed actors and Colombian state agents against our youth and demand immediate action to pave the way for a stable and lasting peace in the country.

CLACSO Colombia Member Centers
May 12th 2026