Clashes in Colombia as hundreds of thousands protest against government
Hundreds of thousands
of Colombians have taken to the streets in a show of support for the country’s
embattled peace process with leftist rebels – and to protest against its deeply
unpopular government.
Pensioners, students,
teachers and union members joined marches across the country in one of biggest
mass demonstrations in recent years.
In the capital,
Bogotá, police helicopters whirred overhead, while riot police fired teargas at
protesters who had blocked bus routes before dawn. Despite torrential rain,
thousands of people thronged the city’s historic Plaza de Simón Bolívar,
singing the national anthem.
The marches began in
Bogotá largely without incident, although a few clashes broke out near Bogotá
airport between protesters and riot police around midday. As the rain cleared,
more confrontations broke out across the city in the early evening. Explosions
could be heard across the city. Teargas was fired in the Plaza de Simón Bolívar
and at the campus of the National University, where protesters battled with
security forces.
The national strike
was prompted by proposed cuts to pensions weeks ago. Though the reform was
never formally announced, it became a lightning rod for widespread
dissatisfaction with the government of President Iván Duque, whose approval
rating has dropped to just 26% since he took office in August last year....
