Colombia anti-govt protest clashes kill at least 10 in Cali
Rescue workers in the city of Cali on May 28 carry a corpse on a stretcher as protests against the Colombian government entered a second month LUIS ROBAYO AFP
At least 10 people in the city of Cali were killed in a day of anti-government protests, authorities said Saturday, as Colombia enters its second month of demonstrations that have met violent repression.
President Ivan Duque announced Friday he was deploying military troops to Cali while the nation marked a full month of Colombia-wide rallies that have morphed into a broad anti-establishment mobilization.
"Ten people" are dead, "this is the toll we have this morning" in events linked to Friday's demonstrations, Cali's security secretary Carlos Rojas told Caracol radio. Police said eight of the 10 were shot dead.
He spoke after reports of violent street clashes. In one case, a representative from the Cali prosecutor's office said an off-duty investigator had shot at a crowd, killing a civilian, before being lynched by protesters.
Video footage showed a man lying in a pool of blood and another nearby wielding a gun; that man was then attacked by a group of people.
- 'Almost an urban war' -
"In the south of the city we had a real scene of confrontation and almost an urban war where many people not only lost their lives, but we also had a significant number of injuries," said Rojas.#photo1
After chairing a security meeting in the city, Duque announced Friday "the maximum deployment of military assistance to the national police" would begin immediately.
The official nationwide toll up to Friday in the month of violence was 49 dead, with many more wounded or missing.
Human Rights Watch, which has been reporting a higher toll, says it has counted 63 deaths to date. It called the situation in Cali, a city of 2.2 million, "very serious."
Jose Miguel Vivanco, the rights group's executive director for the Americas, urged Duque to take "urgent measures to de-escalate, including a specific order prohibiting agents of the state from using firearms."
- Poverty, disease, resentment -
Government mediation attempts have been largely futile, unable to contain the fury of increasingly politicized youth battered by the pandemic, angry over the country's deep inequalities, and feeling their voices have not been heard.#photo2
Economists say more than 42 percent of the country's 50 million people live in poverty, with the pandemic plunging many of the most vulnerable into penury.
A third of Colombians aged 14 to 28 are jobless and not in school, according to Hernando Gomez Buendia, author of the book "Between Independence and the Pandemic," and that has led to growing resentment and defiance.
Analysts link the government's militarized history to its response to the protests.
For more than 50 years, Colombia's war against leftist FARC guerrillas eclipsed all other government priorities, with the state emerging from the conflict militarily strong but weak on social redress.
In 2019, the year after Duque took power, students took to the streets demanding free and more accessible public education, better jobs and a supportive government.
On April 28, fury at a proposed tax increase on the middle classes led people onto the streets again.
Though the proposal was quickly withdrawn, it had triggered a broad anti-government mobilization by people who felt they were left to fend for themselves in the health crisis, and who were further angered by the heavy-handed response of the security forces.
Mostly peaceful protests by day have often turned into riots at night and running battles with the armed forces.
Protesters have kept barricades burning countrywide and blocked dozens of key roads, causing shortages of many products.
Meanwhile, Colombia continues to battle record levels of coronavirus infections.
There have been more than 3.3 million confirmed cases, and over 87,200 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally. That has left many Colombian hospitals near collapse.
Colombia deploys military in Cali after protests leave several dead
New deaths were reported in Colombia as nationwide unrest entered its second month. President Ivan Duque is deploying more than 7,000 personnel to the city of Cali, the hub of the protest movement.
Anti-government protests have been evident across Colombia as the country marked one month since the unrest began
Colombian President Ivan Duque vowed to deploy the "maximum" number of military personnel in the western province of Valle del Cauca after several people died in protests in the region on Friday.
The deaths occurred in and around the city of Cali as tens of thousands demonstrated across the country in the latest round of protests that first emerged on April 28. At least 49 people are now thought to have died during the weeks of unrest.
An anti-government protester throws a bag of paint at a police vehicle during clashes on the outskirts of Bogota
Talks to ease unrest break down
The unrest was sparked over tax reform but the protests have since expanded to include wide-ranging demands.
Talks between the Colombian government and the protest leaders, including union leaders who have formed a national strike committee, have stalled. Protest leaders have also been heavily critical of the violent crackdown on civilians.
"From tonight begins the maximum deployment of military assistance to the national police in Cali and the province of Valle," Duque said in a televised message.
He said that more than 7,000 personnel, including members of the navy, would be sent to alleviate road blockades.
Cali goes into curfew
Valle del Cauca Governor Clara Luz Roldan earlier declared a curfew, which would start in the province from 7:00 p.m.
Several deaths were reported in the city of Cali on Friday, although their exact number was not immediately clear. The western city is a flash point in the protests, and serves as a center of the protest movement.
Mayor Jorge Ivan Ospina urged "not give in to the temptation of violence and death."
At least three deaths occurred in clashes between "those blocking and those trying to get through" a barricade, Ospina added.
Local media reported at least one more death on the road between Cali and the town of Candelaria.
Rights groups urge de-escalation
The United Nations human rights office in Colombia on Saturday said it was "extremely concerned" about the current situation in the country.
It said it had reports of several dead and injured as well as one person missing in relation to the unrest and called for dialogue.
Human Rights Watch, which puts the death toll higher than the official one, at 63, said the situation in the city of 2.2 million was "very serious."
Jose Miguel Vivanco, the rights group's Americas executive director, urged Duque to take "urgent measures to de-escalate, including a specific order prohibiting agents of the state from using firearms."
"Colombia can't mourn any more deaths," he said in a tweet.
