Colombians March Against Government Raising Taxes
Colombians have recently taken it to the streets to protest government tax raises on the country’s middle class. Colombia has grabbed international attention from protests that began peacefully by their president, Iván Duque Márquez.
🎥🛑In #Colombia for a week now, people have taken to the streets in protest of the US-backed Duque government
— ©halecos Amarillosᴳᴸᴼᴮᴬᴸ 🍀ʷAͤNͣOͬNͤYˡMͤOᵍUͥSͦⁿ (@ChalecosAmarill) May 5, 2021
🔻Started as a march against a neoliberal tax reform proposal has grown into a massive demo against brutal police & human rights violations. pic.twitter.com/ykyOBuIDr9
The protests began on April 28, over tax increases and health care. Since then, there have been an estimated 19-26 deaths, including one of a ninth-grade boy. Several traumatizing videos have been posted to Twitter, exemplifying the terror that has plagued Colombia. According to Twitter, the internet in Colombia has been cut off to stop citizens’ pleas for help and eliminate the spread of exploitation within the corrupt government, killing protestors.
i’m not seeing a lot written in english about what’s happening in colombia — basically, colombian riot police have been shooting + killing peaceful protestors in the streets. 26 people have been killed and internet is being cut off.
— matt (@mattxiv) May 5, 2021
to donate: https://t.co/wmG3zcreGl pic.twitter.com/eVAn8yaGWt
However, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel. Nothing has been explicitly executed, but President Iván Duque Márquez announced Sunday that he would withdraw his current proposition to open discussion for a new one. Additionally, the day after the tax reform proposal was removed, Colombia’s finance minister, Alberto Carrasquilla, announced he would be resigning.
Currently in Colombia we are going through a crisis that has taken years of violence, corruption in different political sectors, neglect in education, deaths of rights activists, among many more injustices and our role is not to remain silent.
— Danaus (@DanausMaker) May 4, 2021
This is an urgent act #SOSColombia pic.twitter.com/IguDHpUCGi
These protests were a long time coming, but the recent tax proposal was the last straw. Colombia is a well-off, powerful, and beautiful country that has been on a drastic decline since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak. The arrival of the coronavirus brought a newly overwhelming presence of inequality, poverty, and unemployment to Colombians. Corruption has been immensely present across various political sectors, including health care, education, civil rights, police brutality, and a President undertaking an authoritarian role in government.
To stay up to date with the events in Colombia, be sure to follow Colombia’s President on his official Twitter account.
Glitter Magazine Writer | Tweet me @gabbigabehart
