Thousands of Colombians protest against Petro’s tax reform project

Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of the main cities of Colombia in rejection of the tax reform project of the leftist government of Gustavo Petro in the midst of a strong devaluation of the local currency against the dollar.

Dressed in white and waving tricolor flags, Colombians mobilized for the second time under the slogan “no more Petro”, inaugurated on August 7 as the first left-wing president in the history of the country.

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“Today we ask the government to take into account the country’s productive sector, to understand that tax reform is not needed in the way they are doing it”businessman Álvaro Aparicio (58 years old) told AFP in the middle of the demonstration in Bogotá that was dispersed by rain.

With similar demands, the protests toured the streets of Cali (southwest), Barranquilla (north), Medellín (northwest), among other cities.

People march to protest against a tax reform proposed by the government of leftist President Gustavo Petro, in Bogotá, Colombia. (Raul ARBOLEDA / AFP /)

Congress is debating a tax reform project presented by the government that aspires to levy more taxes on the upper classes to finance their social programs against poverty and inequality with new resources.

Meanwhile, the country is under the effects of global inflation and a historic devaluation of the local currency against the dollar. Unemployment also hits 10.6% of the working population.

Petro He conquered just over half of the Colombian electorate with an ambitious battery of reforms that includes a fiscal transformation, stopping oil exploration and distributing fertile land among “landless” peasants, among others.

A fruit vendor displays Venezuelan bolivars and US dollar bills at the Chacao Municipal Market in Caracas. (CHRISTIAN HERNANDEZ / AFP /)

Former right-wing president Iván Duque (2018-2022) faced massive protests in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

The bloodiest occurred last year, when the then president tried to tax the middle class to deal with the ravages of the pandemic, which sparked violent demonstrations that lasted two months and left 46 dead, including civilians and police, according to the ONU.

Source: Elcomercio