BOGOTA, Nov 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Colombian unions and student groups will hold another demonstration on Wednesday in honour of a teenage demonstrator who died after being injured by a tear gas canister, after an initial strike last week sparked days of protests.
Demonstrations continued on Tuesday, the sixth straight day of protests following a 250,000-person march last week organized by the National Strike Committee.
The committee said in a statement that it would take part in meetings with President Ivan Duque to “demand a permanent negotiation until the agenda for which the Nov 21 strike was called is resolved.”
Thousands of peaceful protesters have taken to the streets over issues including economic reforms, police violence and corruption.
Duque denies supporting rumored economic plans that have galvanized many protesters – including a cut to the minimum wage for young people. Demonstrators have also highlighted what they say is a lack of government action to stop the murder of hundreds of human rights activists and asked Duque to fully implement a 2016 peace deal with leftist rebels.
The death on Monday of Dilan Cruz, 18, is likely to fuel further criticism of the crowd dispersion tactics of the ESMAD riot police, which include tear gas and stun grenades.
Cruz, who was injured on Saturday, has become a symbol for many young protesters. Marchers have led demonstrations past the hospital where he was treated and created a makeshift shrine at the corner where he was hit by the tear gas canister.
The strike committee said it would ask Duque, who has promised a national dialogue focused on social issues and the fight against corruption, to shut down the ESMAD and “purify” the police.
The committee will “reinforce and elevate the protest, the mobilization and the national strike with greater intensity on Wednesday … in homage to the symbol of the national strike Dylan Cruz,” the statement said, using a different spelling of Cruz’s first name than that used by his sister and the government.
It will also demand the government’s tax reform proposal, which includes a cut in duties on businesses, be rejected.
The committee includes the Central Union of Workers, the Confederation of Colombian Workers and the General Workers Confederacy, as well as student groups.
