At least 10 people died on Friday in the city of Cali, in the midst of the anti-government demonstrations that began a month ago in Colombia and have been harshly repressed by the public force, the local mayor’s office reported this Saturday.
“Ten people died is the report we have today in the morning”, in events related “to the protest and civil dynamics” in this capital of Valle del Cauca, said this Saturday on Caracol Radio the secretary of security of the city, Carlos Red.
Eight of the deaths were due to firearms, according to a police report.
The violence began early, when a mob lynched a public prosecutor who had killed two protesters for blocking him on a blocked avenue. Later, civilians were seen firing rifles alongside police officers, in videos posted on social media.
“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,” lamented Rojas.
In a month, the mayor’s office counted 550 wounded.
Cali (in the southwest of the country), with some 2.2 million inhabitants, is the epicenter of violent protests and roadblocks that exasperate part of the population and have been brutally repressed by the police.
The road closures divide the government and the most visible front of the protest, who have been talking for two weeks without reaching any agreement.
Added to the abuses by the public force, condemned by the international community, are constant attacks by civilians on protesters and even the medical mission, recorded in numerous videos.
It is “unacceptable that we have civilians practically turning our city into a war field,” Rojas added.
Cornered by the harshness of the protests against him, President Iván Duque ordered the deployment of some 7,000 soldiers throughout the department under the figure of military assistance.
In a month of popular uprising, 49 deaths were registered throughout the country as of Friday, according to the official count. The Prosecutor’s Office has established that at least 17 of the cases are directly related to the demonstrations.
But the NGO Human Rights Watch claims to have “credible reports” of 63 deaths, 28 related to the crisis.
The outbreak began when the government wanted to burden the middle class, hit by the pandemic, with more taxes to fill the fiscal gap left by the economic emergency.
Duque withdrew from the proposal, but the police repression heightened spirits. Today the streets are full of young people without jobs or education who ask for a more solidary State in the face of the ravages of COVID-19.
