Thousands of people protest in Colombia against measures of the Petro Government

Thousands of people marched this Saturday through the streets of cities Colombian such as Bogotá and Medellín to show their disagreement with the Government of Gustavo Petro and his measures, such as the tax reform that he wants to promote in Congress.

Some 8,000 people came from various points of Bogotá to the central Plaza Bolívar, which hosts the Congress, where, with Colombian flags and banners, they sang the Colombian anthem and shouted “Petro, bandit, the people are offended”, calling for his resignation, or they harangued the military forces.

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“This is a government that wants to destroy the things we have”explained to EFE Paloma Valencia, senator of the uribista Democratic Center, one of the parties that promoted the protests.

According to the Uribe senator, the government “is imposing exaggerated taxes and prohibiting oil and gas exploration, which is leading the hydrocarbons sector, which is the basis of this country’s macroeconomy, to collapse,” referring to the announcements -something contradictory – of the Government to paralyze new hydrocarbon exploration as a gesture towards the environment.

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

The president of the Union of Workers of the Petroleum and Energy Industry of Colombia, Alejandro Ospina, assured EFE that it is false that this industry must be ended to “mitigate the climate crisis” and that this will only bring “greater poverty and greater impact environmental”.

The opposition assures that the tax reform -which in 2021 already brought tens of thousands of people to the streets in massive protests when former President Iván Duque wanted to promote a somewhat different tax- “can destroy the productive sector of this country”.

People participate in a day of protest against the Government of Gustavo Petro, in the Plaza de Bolívar in Bogotá (Colombia). (EFE/Carlos Ortega/)

That is why they ask the Government to “listen to citizens” and continue the legacy that other governments have left because “it cannot destroy”, in the words of Valencia.

RESPECT FOR THE PRESS

It was a “democratic, civilized protest, with respect for institutions, public goods and the rights of others”, as defined by the right-wing presidential candidate Enrique Gómez, since it took place almost everywhere calmly and without disturbances. .

However, Petro himself echoed a video in which the protesters in Medellín can be seen throwing out the march and in a hostile attitude with a media outlet.

For this reason, he asked the protesters “not to hinder freedom of the press”, since “every media outlet has the right to cover and inform”.

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

Source: Elcomercio