Category: Colombia

The movement began on April 28, 2021, after a tax reform was proposed by the government. The latter involved an increase in income taxes and taxes on many essential products and services such as electricity, water, gas, gasoline, funeral services and certain food products, thus making pay the deficit linked to the health crisis to the population, and more particularly to the middle and working classes.  The proposed tax reform is part of a broader framework of bad management of the health crisis, corruption within the government and economic insecurity, which explains why its arrival at the Congress breaks the camel’s back.  A general strike then begins on April 28, 2021, at the initiative of the workers’ unions and joined by a large number of Colombians calling for the repeal of tax reform. Large-scale demonstrations are taking place in 70% of Colombia’s towns and villages, and violent clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement are reported. The reform was abandoned by the government four days after the start of the movement, but the protests did not stop. Intensified by violent repression (live bullets, ban of demonstrations, media censorship), the movement intensifies and demands widen: abandonment of health reform (to privatize the health sector) , resignation of President Iván Duque, dissolution of the anti-riot brigade (ESMAD), reform of the national police (independence of the military courts). The movement was massively relayed on social networks, under the #SOSColombia launched by Colombians warning about the situation in their country.