Queues of cars stretch out in front of Cali’s gas pumps. Colombia’s third-largest city has been experiencing fuel supply difficulties for several days, while, dispersed in small groups, demonstrators block the main access routes. The mobilization, which has lasted for thirteen days, shows no sign of running out of steam. “Instead of listening to the people, the government is shooting at them, is indignant Daniel, 23 years old. So the people stay there. “ On Sunday May 9, the authorities announced a strengthening of the military presence and the closure of the “borders” of the department of Valle del Cauca, of which Cali is the capital, until May 15.
In Bogota, the National Strike Committee and the government sat down at the negotiating table on Monday for the first time since the start of the social movement. They got up, four hours later, without any advancement. At the end of the meeting, the Committee – which brings together unions, social organizations and student leaders – called on Colombians to a new day of mobilization on May 12. Congress is expected to sit in Cali that day.
This city of 2.2 million inhabitants has become the epicenter of the movement which, since April 28, affects the whole country to varying degrees. The police repression there was particularly brutal the first days. Protesters who in Cali as in the rest of the country initially took to the streets to protest a tax reform bill (and who got it withdrawn) are now demanding demilitarization of the country, police reform and the application of the peace agreement signed by the previous government with the guerrillas of the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), among other demands.
Express visit of the Head of State
On Sunday, in the south of the city, violent incidents opposed the Indians who came to support the urban mobilization against a commando of armed civilians. About twenty natives were injured, eight are still hospitalized. As the government and local elites accuse the protesters of “Kidnap Cali”, the images of these white men dressed in white walking around armed without being disturbed by the army fuel fears of a violent slippage.
The local authorities and the population of Cali – pro and anti-mobilization – have been demanding the presence of the Head of State for several days. Monday morning before sunrise, Ivan Duque finally made a quick trip there. He stayed there for less than three hours. This express trip exacerbated the spirits more than it calmed them. “If the president comes in secret, it’s because he no longer governs”, says Daniel.
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