Thousands of Colombians returned to the streets on Tuesday to protest against President Ivan Duque’s government, which submitted a new tax reform plan to Congress. Colombian police said on Wednesday that they had arrested 70 people following fresh anti-government protests and left dozens injured.
- Tax reform was the issue that in April sparked mass nationwide protests that left more than 60 people dead and the government facing accusations of use of excessive force.
- Protesters in several cities marked Colombia’s Independence Day by demanding police reform and greater support from the government in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, which has seen the poverty rate rise from 37 to 42 percent in the country of 50 million.
- According to the authorities, as Colombians returned to the streets, after a weeks-long hiatus, clashes with riot police left dozens of civilians and agents wounded in the cities of Bogota, Medellin, and Cali.
- “In the last few hours, the national police captured 70 people, 69 of them caught in the act, for crimes committed in several cities on July 20, and one more on a warrant for homicide,” in statement police described. Â The government claims armed groups had infiltrated the protests.
- Colombia’s human rights ombudsman reported 50 people were injured in Tuesday’s demonstrations, 24 civilians, and 26 agents.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has hit out at Colombia’s “disproportionate” and “lethal” response to the protests and has also recommended a police separation from the military.
