Discontent in Colombia
Tensions rise in Columbia as the government signs a free trade agreement with US, UK and Canada.
Angry protestors took to the streets of the capital on Thursday to let their discontent be known. A large number of protesters, banging pots and pans, marched through the streets of Bogotá, while avoiding riot police.
There is outrage in Columbia due to the free trade agreement that President Juan Manuel Santos signed with the United States, Canada and the UK. The protesters claim that the local farmers are not able to compete with cheap imported goods. The Columbian farmers have had a very difficult summer with spells of drought followed by very heavy rainfall. Furthermore, they lack fertilizers and pesticides. This subsidy has only made their situation worse.
The protest is said to be one of the largest this year with teachers, miners and cargo truckers joining hands with cocoa, potato and rice farmers. As a result, the government has had to face a lot of pressure. The protestors have a large list of demands. These include a reduction of fuel and fertiliser prices, cancellation of certain free trade agreements and the application of farming subsidies.
The government responded by putting forward policies including a removal of import duties on 23 products. However, this has not helped to calm the protestors down. In fact, the protests have become increasingly violent with masked men throwing stones at the police who have responded with water cannons and tear gas.
Juan Santos fears that guerrilla groups may have joined the protestors. “Please let us not fall to the hands of the violent", he said. "It would lead to unnecessary confrontations and deaths". He previously called the protests ‘valid’ but changed his stance when the protestors got more violent.
Troops have been deployed to patrol Bogotá on the wake of the increasing violence. The Interior Minister Fernando Carillo called the violent protestors “vandals, not farmers”. Protests have also broken international boundaries with a protest of solidarity being held at Trafalgar Square. One women held a banner which said, ‘When giant corporations view small peasants and bees as thieves, and through trade rules and new technology seek the right to exterminate them, humanity has reached dangerous thresholds.”
