The International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS), its member organizations, country chapters, and allied networks call for an urgent international solidarity with the people of Colombia who are currently suffering from massacres, violent police brutality, arrests and disappearances over mass demonstrations against the government’s tax, economic, and social policies overhaul.
The people’s rejection of the Duque government’s policies led to the National Strike last April 28 and their public anger has escalated to a national outcry over intensifying poverty, unemployment, and class inequality exposed by the pandemic last year.
On Monday, government forces opened fire on protesters in Cali, Colombia’s third largest city. Before the Cali incident, 19 were reportedly killed in the week-long protests. Cali is now under a state of martial law, declared in the guise of “military assistance” by the Duque government and supported by the Centro Democrático of Uribe and conservative Vice-President Martha Lucía Ramírez with advice from the CIA and Interpol.
Just as in the rest of South America, Cali, Colombia in particular, is experiencing its deadliest moment of the virus. The working class, Indigenous communities, and the youth continue to face dire unemployment, hunger, impoverishment, and social consequences of the pandemic. Instead of prioritizing aid and accessible healthcare for the amelioration of Colombia’s most vulnerable communities, the Duque government has waged a war against its own people in an attempt to quell unrest. With Colombia’s economy shrinking and its state of poverty rising, the government is adding fuel to the fire by committing crimes and rights violations that have aggravated the pain and deaths already caused by the pandemic.
The ILPS strongly condemns the political repression and fascist attacks against the people by Duque’s regime which is supported by his oligarch cohorts, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and U.S. imperialism. Just like the other fascist regimes across the globe, the Colombian state has weaponized the COVID-19 pandemic to terrorize the people to further consolidate political and economic power.
Now more than ever, we should forge a stronger international solidarity with the ongoing democratic struggles of the people of Colombia. The thousands-strong strike on April 28 is proof of the people’s resolve to fight for their democratic rights and social liberation. The ILPS is one with the people of Colombia in waging their strong resistance.
Stop the fascist attacks against the people of Colombia!
Long live the Colombian peoples’ struggle!
Long live international solidarity!