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Bogotá / Cali (dpa) - The Colombian President Iván Duque has tightened the order for the security forces after days of protests.
"I have given the defense minister, the interior minister and the government team, which is in Cali, instructions to ensure the greatest possible deployment of the security forces and to give security to the citizens," wrote Duque on Twitter on Sunday evening (local time).
The president also ordered the lifting of the blockades that have been affecting the mobility of residents and supplying the city for days.
He also called on indigenous people to return to their areas.
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For almost two weeks there have been numerous protests in Colombia, some of them overshadowed by violence.
At least 26 people were killed during the protest days, according to the latest information from the national ombudsman, a dozen of them by the police and most of them in Cali.
Almost all of the dead are adolescents or young adults.
First, people demonstrated against a controversial tax reform, which would have primarily been at the expense of the middle class and poorer population.
Unemployment is high in Cali and poverty is high.
The corona pandemic has exacerbated the situation.
President Iván Duque has since withdrawn the reform.
But the protests continue.
Most of the demonstrators now have new goals such as resisting a health reform that is also planned and working for the fragile peace process.
In the salsa metropolis of Cali, at least eight indigenous people were shot injured on Sunday when hundreds of indigenous people came to the protests, as the broadcaster “RCN Radio” reported, citing the national ombudsman's office.
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The representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in the South American country, Juliette de Rivero, condemned the attacks and expressed great concern.
“We call on everyone to calm down, especially in Cali.
The guarantee of human rights is achieved through dialogue and non-violence.
We warn: no more violence, no more violence, »wrote Rivero on Twitter.
President Duque has been holding talks with the opposition, governors and youth for a few days.
A meeting with the National Strike Committee for this Monday confirmed Labor Minister Ángel Custodia Cabrera in a video on Twitter.
Duque did not want to travel to Cali.
In practice, he seems to have mainly followed his political foster father Álvaro Urive, who wrote on Twitter: "The right of Colombians to live without blockades and without violence is non-negotiable, there is only one word: authority."
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With around 50 million inhabitants, Colombia is the second most populous country after Brazil and the USA's most important ally in South America.
A civil war raged for more than 50 years, 220,000 people died and millions were displaced.
In 2016 the Colombian government signed a peace treaty with the Farc guerrillas, the economy experienced an upswing, tourism, including from Germany, boomed.
But the peace is fragile and the excessive police violence is a setback.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210510-99-536312 / 2
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