Colombia: President Duque sends the army to Cali after a month of mobilization
A soldier with demonstrators in Cali where the Colombian president deployed the army, May 28, 2021. AFP - LUIS ROBAYO
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After a month of social anger in the country, Colombian President Ivan Duque on Friday ordered the deployment of the army in the streets of Cali, the epicenter of the protests.
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The Colombian president announced the deployment, Friday, May 28, of the army in Cali.
The capital of Valle del Cauca, the third largest city in the country, is the epicenter of
the social protest that has lasted for a month
.
"
From this night begins the maximum deployment of military assistance to the national police in the city of Cali
", ordered Ivan Duque who chaired a security council in the city of 2.2 million inhabitants.
At least three dead
New protests left at least three people dead in the city on Friday, including an investigator from the Cali prosecutor's office who shot at the crowd, killing a civilian, before being lynched by protesters.
These three new deaths bring the death toll to 49, including two police officers, listed by the authorities.
The NGO Human Rights Watch mentions up to 61 deaths.
The mobilization is unprecedented in this country which has long known the war against the FARC.
It all started on April 28 with the rejection of a tax reform project.
But since then, the protest movement has widened.
Deaf government
The demonstrations affect all cities and all sectors, recalls
our correspondent in Bogota
,
Marie-Eve Detoeuf
. Students from public and private universities, artists, are in the streets. Young people without jobs or future in outlying neighborhoods are also mobilized. Colombian flag on the shoulders, all demand an end to police violence. Everyone dreams of a more just, more united country. If during the day, the demonstrations remain generally peaceful, in the evening, they turn into violent riots.
President Ivan Duque,
little concerned with dialogue
, first treated the demonstrators as guerrillas, then as vandals.
He accuses them today of leading the country to ruin.
The roadblocks are indeed complicating the country's economic recovery and exasperating entrepreneurs, producers and traders.
But, according to a recent survey, 90% of young people continue to support the mobilization.
► To read also: Colombia: "The government made the wrong diagnosis"
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