Colombia: National Strike to Adopt New Protest Strategies

By teleSUR

15 June 21

Social organizations will hold a large mobilization on July 20 to present seven bills to Congress.

n Tuesday, the National Strike Committee (CNP) announced new strategies to prevent state terrorism from affecting those Colombians who are protesting against President Ivan Duque since April 28.

This announcement was made by Central Union of Workers (CUT) president Francisco Maltes who also indicated that the CNP will temporarily interrupt the mass mobilizations that took place every Wednesday.

The protest leaders announced that they will encourage a "great national dialogue" through which citizens will elaborate draft laws in order to concretize the "emergency list" presented to the Duque administration in July 2020.

The interruption of the mass mobilizations, however, does not mean that the protest is dissolved because social organizations will concentrate their efforts on the elaboration of their action plan in the coming days.

"The social mobilization will continue in Colombia. More mobilizations will come later," Maltes said and CNP members will hold a large mobilization on July 20 to present seven bills to Congress.

Students, workers, and farmers also recalled that they have been mobilized since October 4, 2019, when they met in Bogota to develop a proposal against the economic policies Duque announced to meet his commitments to international financial institutions.

This initial list of proposals was subsequently developed to respond to the crisis that the government generated and the COVID-19 pandemic deepened.

"This led to the bankruptcy of thousands of small and medium enterprises. It led to the paralysis of transportation, construction, and mining activities, which meant the loss of income destined to cover the basic needs of millions of Colombians," the National Strike Committee recalled.