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“Every time my son leaves and participates in a social protest, he leaves me without the broomstick and the flag of the house.” Smiling, the mother of Óscar Yesid Galindo Roberto tells what the story of her family is, that of the young man who was reported by the District Administration as having participated in acts of vandalism against a financial institution in the center of Bogotá.
Under the sun, rain or enduring the wind Nelsy Roberto Anzola, 44, waits every day for the arrival of customers to buy her an arepa or chorizo at an informal stall in the El Tintal sector.
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She is the mother head of the family of three children and one of the victims of the pandemic. Before the crisis, he was a chef at a recognized event center, but he lost his job and it was his sons Karhol, 23; Óscar, 20, and Zharick, 13, who encouraged her not to lose heart and go out into the streets to fight.
Every month you must collect enough to pay 580,000 pesos of rent plus services. Then he gets up at 4 in the morning, has a red wine and supplies his cart until he reaches his point of sale. He works until 8 at night in two shifts. “You have to be very judicious because having economic stability is the most difficult thing.”
She says that her relationship with the police has been good because her clients do not cause crowds and she respects all the health rules. Oscar always accompanies her. Her charisma attracts customers.
Of course, do not count on him when there are social marches because he takes the stick from the broom, dresses him in the tricolor and puts on a mask that he painted with a Colombian flag and tears of blood.
Óscar has always had the conviction that young people should raise their voices when there are injustices. He reads a lot and is affected by news of massacres or abuse of authority, such as the death of Dilan Cruz or that of Javier Ordóñez.
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And it is that he and his family live in their own flesh the lack of opportunities. His sister is about to finish psychology and works at the same time; you will owe half a loan for years. Óscar finished his baccalaureate at the Antonio García school, but given the impossibility of getting a permanent job, he has not been able to enter university or request a loan. His only option, for now, is to help his mother by selling arepas because every time he knocks on a door they ask him for a military passport or university studies. For a young man his age, it is almost impossible to get a job with the social benefits of the law.
Óscar wants to study at the Higher Academy of Arts (Asab) of the District University. That is why he prepares with tutorials on the internet, because he says that he cannot afford to lose the money from the pin.
He is a cheerful young man who has won the affection of the neighborhood. “So what a rasta, how’s everything going”, that’s how they greet him back and forth when they see him at the arepa stand with his mother. And although he does not have a cell phone or social networks, he likes to debate when the occasion allows it.
And it is because of all that daily struggle to do things well in the midst of poverty that this family found it so hard to find out that the young man had been arrested by the police, supposedly, for participating in the excesses against a bank on September 21. “When my daughter showed me the video they sent her it was heartbreaking, they were capturing it. Everything went through my head, the mistreatment, the beatings, the accidents, everything. My little daughter saw it and started crying ”.
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When my daughter showed me the video they sent her it was heartbreaking, they were capturing it. Everything went through my head, the mistreatment, the blows, the accidents, everything
Karhol started looking for him in every CAI in the area. “I went to the Bogotá Metropolitan Police at the 6th with 30. After many refusals, they told me that I was at the Puente Aranda Protection Transfer Center (CTP). I learned that thanks to a Human Rights person ”.
When she finally saw him she hugged him and took a deep breath. He had not suffered any kind of abuse.
He said that the capture occurred during the protests that were carried out in the 7th and 2nd race, right in front of the Banco Caja Social, very close to the Plaza de Bolívar. “I was waving my flag about eight meters from the bank. The video shows it. From a moment the riots began and then the Esmad to try to recover the area. With gases and stun bombs they cleared everything, “he said.
But then, when he tried to join another nearby protest, a lot of policemen arrived and that’s when they took him away. They arrested him for wearing a mask that covered his face without any incriminating evidence.
All that was recorded and the video went viral on social networks. “When I found out about all this, it made me very angry, and even more so when Mayor Claudia López began to trill things about me that were not true. He said that some congressmen were intervening in the process of arresting a vandal who had attacked Banco Caja Social, ”Óscar said.
He maintains that his only weapons for the protest are his flag and his theatrical mask. And that’s why they started asking the media for all the videos. Thus they proved their innocence.
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When I found out about all this, I was very angry, and even more so when Mayor Claudia López began to trill things about me that were not true
Then came the most anticipated by Nelsy. An official from the Mayor’s Office of Bogotá called them. Claudia López wanted to apologize to the young man for what happened. The young man was not in the material reviewed. “We accepted, but we wanted the apologies to be public ”. It was not for less. This family received all kinds of expletives through social networks: “Of course, with that ñero look”, “that happens to spoil him”, “that he pays for all the damage” were some of the least offensive.
Minutes before the meeting, Óscar’s hands were sweating from nerves, he said he did not know what he was going to say, but when it was his turn, he did it with gallantry. “I just wanted to tell the young people that even clearing one’s name can be done in peace. It is not about keeping quiet, but about protesting without hurting others ”.
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The mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López, and Óscar Yesid Galindo Roberto in the program ‘La calle’ of Canal Capital during the public apology.
After the affectionate forgiveness of the mayor, many young people came to congratulate Óscar for representing them as a citizen of peace.
And it is that he is not of galladas or groups. When he goes out to march he does so alone with his flag on his broomstick. Of course, sure of all his convictions. “They have to stop stigmatizing us because of how we dress or do our hair. We are young and many of us just want peace. “
CAROL MALAVER
SUBEDITOR SECTION BOGOTÁ
Write to him at [email protected]
