Colombia Youth on Front Lines of People's Fight for Rights and Against State Terror
The people of Colombia have risen in what is
at this point a full blown uprising against the anti-people,
neo-liberal, pro-war agenda of the government of Iván
Duque and his mentor, the nefarious former president and alleged death
squad patron, Álvaro Uribe. The uprising began on April 28
as a one-day
national strike. It was called mainly by
trade unions and social movements to demand Duque withdraw his
government's neo-liberal restructuring plan, starting with the
cancellation of regressive new tax measures. These would place
the heaviest burden on millions of working and impoverished Colombians
whose backs are already against the wall, having been left largely on
their own to try and survive a badly
managed pandemic and its devastating economic consequences. For
daring to take their demands to the streets and squares of their
towns and cities, participants in the strike were met from day one with
violence and deadly force, with eight killed on
April 28. Most were young and were shot to death, presumably by members
of the hated riot squad or other police. While youth and students make
up the main force in the streets, there
are many social movements and others involved as well -- working people
and professionals from different sectors, including informal workers,
political organizations, artists, musicians and
others. Members of the Indigenous Guard who play a similar role in
their traditional territories have taken on the role of protecting the
marches and demonstrations. Many
cities are
militarized, with tanks and other armed vehicles on
the streets and helicopters flying low over certain
neighbourhoods. Colombia's third largest city
Cali quickly became a virtual theatre of war and epicentre of the
state's terror operation with the Army's top commander personally in
charge of it. According to the non-governmental organizations Indepaz
and Temblores that are tracking the events, 47 people -- 2 women and 45
men – were killed between April 28 and May 8, with 35 of the
deaths occurring in Cali. Of the 47 deaths, 39 are alleged to
have been the result of police violence. This included at least
one person
shot while taking part peacefully in a candlelight vigil for victims
of police violence, and others who were apparently randomly shot from a
passing car. United Nations human rights monitors wearing vests to
identify themselves as such also reported being shot at by police in
Cali, saying they managed to avoid getting hit. Cell phone videos taken
by alarmed bystanders showed a group of men in civilian clothes jumping
out of the back of an unmarked truck and firing handguns as they ran
toward a group of people who appeared to be taking part in a
demonstration. Other videos showed a disgusted man standing by
the
truck holding up a jacket with "Police" written across the back, the
vehicle registration, as well as handcuffs and other tools of the trade
found inside after its windows were smashed open. This left police
little choice but to admit later that it was their truck and their
men.
May 6, 2021. University students take part in the protests.
The police
terror operation and use of agents-provocateurs and
infiltrators to carry out the vandalism and killings the government
wanted to pin on the youth to justify its criminal
treatment of them, did not bring the results it wanted. Rather than
succumbing to fear and division and leaving the fight to another day,
the youth stood firm, their courage and the justness
of their stands inspiring the workers, social movements, intellectuals
and others to continue the fight as well. Feeling
the heat, Duque withdrew the IMF-inspired tax reform, saying
he was not shelving it but would reintroduce it with some
modifications. The next day, his Finance Minister -- the
architect of the reform -- resigned with his whole team. None
of this has led to the protests being called off however,
especially with police continuing to arbitrarily arrest and kill people
for exercising their democratic right to protest, and with cities still
militarized. Instead, the youth, as well as social movements and
workers' organizations that make up the National Strike Committee
have stepped up and broadened their demands. They are now focusing not
only on the tax reform but calling for the cancellation of the
government's
plans to sell off public assets, further privatize health care and
other public services and introduce changes to the country's pension
system and labour laws. These are all part of a blueprint for
restructuring the
state in order to free up and generate more resources to use for paying
the rich by fleecing the people, in what is already one of the most
unequal countries in the world in terms of income. Other
demands are:
- for a mass vaccination program and more rational management of the
pandemic
- free education
- implementation of the 2016 Peace
Agreement instead of obstructing it;
-
that the state do its duty and act to put an end to the intolerable
situation in the countryside where targeted killings and massacres of
social leaders
and former guerrilla members occur with impunity almost daily;[1] and
- that the hated riot squad (ESMAD) to be disbanded. Many
youth say they have lost their fear and intend to keep
demonstrating until the state terror campaign of police brutality and
killings is stopped, and assurance is given that all those
responsible for the killings, injuries, arbitrary and irregular
arrests, detentions, beatings, torture and the sexual abuse of
protesters and other innocent people, including those who gave the
orders, are held to account and punished for their crimes. 
"President Duque, Stop the Massacre!" (@annan_tkg)
With denunciations and calls for his resignation coming from
many quarters, Duque
seems to be looking for a way out out of his labyrinth by meeting with
what he calls
different "social sectors" and the National Strike
Committee without having
to deal with the youth. The youth are the driving force of the protests
now, as well
as the main victims of the unspeakable
atrocities associated with the military and police operation he ordered
and continues to defend[2].
The
United Nations, other multilateral organizations and governments,
including some close allies of Colombia have issued statements, most
zeroing in on the excessive or "disproportionate" use of force against
protesters and the importance of citizens' right to protest being
respected. Colombian Senator Iván Cepeda has indicated that
he
and a number of organizations that have been tracking the events plan
to launch a petition before the International Criminal Court asking
that President Iván Duque, former President Alvaro Uribe,
Minister of Defence Diego Molano, the Commander of the Army General
Eduardo Zapateiro and Head of the Police General José Luis
Vargas be held responsible for the crimes against humanity committed
during the strike. Support has flowed from inside
Colombia and around the world in
different ways for those who have persisted in fighting for the demands
of the people in Colombia. Pickets and rallies
hailing their resistance and calling for an end to the police
repression and violence, with those responsible held to account
criminally, have been held in many countries including in several
Canadian cities. TML Monthly
stands with the youth and people of Colombia courageously fighting for
their democratic rights and for an end to police violence and the state
terrorism that has drowned their country in blood for decades. All
those responsible, including at the highest levels of the state and
government, must be held accountable and punished for their crimes. 
May 8, 2021. Rally in New
York City in solidarity with the Colombian people.
Note
1. Since the Peace Agreement was
signed in 2016, there have been 270
former FARC-EP members and some 1,200 social leaders murdered.
2. As of May 9 the organizations Temblores and
Indepaz, which are
documenting incidences of police violence and related events, report
that since April 28, 47 people have been killed,
39 allegedly as a result of police violence. Among them are four
minors,
with the vast majority of others whose age is known between 18 and 36
years of age. There have been 28 reported
eye injuries, 12 cases of women being sexually assaulted and 963
arbitrary arrests. The whereabouts of 438 people is unknown. Many of
those arrested and released said they were not taken
to police stations for processing but to irregular locations where they
were held incommunicado, without the required judicial oversight. Many
said they were beaten and subjected to threats,
torture or other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment at those
sites, often by people who did not seem to be police officers and were
not wearing uniforms.
This article was published in
Volume 51 Number 5 - May 9, 2021
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2021/Articles/M5100519.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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