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The massacres that have occurred in the country, the cases of abuse of force in the Armed Forces, the security problems suffered by social leaders in different regions and a series of economic claims have been some of the causes that have had Colombians in the midst of protests during the government of President Iván Duque.
The most recent large-scale mobilization was that of the indigenous minga, who traveled for a week to have an audience with President Iván Duque, which was the preamble to a new day of social mobilization in Colombia promoted by the labor and trade union centrals of the country. The march was peaceful and orderly.
But what happened with the minga, judging by the figures revealed by the Ministry of Defense, is no exception. According to this portfolio, in a document sent to the House of Representatives for a debate called by Congressman Ricardo Ferro, a total of 25,879 acts of protest have been presented in the country during the current government.
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In other words, in the 810 days that Duque has been in power, an average of 32 acts of protest have been presented per day.
This figure is almost double the figure registered between 2014 and 2018, when these types of events reached 14,338.
It should be clarified that these acts of protest involve any type of demonstration, among which are marches, hunger strikes, strikes, mobilizations, riots, among other events.
There have been an average of 32 acts of protest per day
According to the Ministry of Defense document, 284 acts of protest were registered in Bogotá alone, between February and October 15, 2020.
However, all these acts are not necessarily against the National Government, as some of them are directed against judicial decisions, against the health system, against local administrations or to demand claims from a specific institution.
Of the total number of protest acts presented from August 7, 2018 to October 25 of this year, Esmad has had to intervene in 2,607 cases, that is, 10 percent of all demonstrations.
Millionaires damage
The document from the Defense portfolio also makes a count of the material costs left by the acts of protest that have ended “in vandalism.”
According to the report, the National Police has had to spend 816 million 711 thousand pesos in the repair of the vehicle fleet that has been damaged after the mobilizations of the last two years.
As for infrastructure, the losses have been 8 thousand 765 million pesos, while the damage to personal property has been 157 million pesos.
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Dilan Cruz died after being hit by a 12-gauge shotgun shell.
Instagram: @ _dilan88_
A fact that draws the attention of the document is the defense that the ministry makes of the use of the 12-gauge shotgun by Esmad, a weapon that was used in the death of the young Dilan Cruz.
The report makes it clear that the use of this weapon was restricted since January 2019, but in the times when this device was used it could “To show that the use of the caliber shotgun in the middle of the riot control procedures allowed controlling situations that represented an imminent danger to life, due to the use of elements such as improvised explosive devices, incendiary bombs, among others.”
Likewise, the Ministry of Defense assures that “the 12-millimeter shotgun is a weapon that, due to its mechanisms of action, shoots less lethal directed impact cartridges that promote a kinetic force to make the offending citizen desist from his intention to cause harm ”.
The document adds that this “is a dissuasive tool in violent interventions, where the other less lethal elements have not been effective in stopping said action, putting the physical integrity and lives of those who do not intervene, as well as the uniformed personnel at risk. ”.
Vandalism
The response by the Government to the Legislature also contains a section to analyze the identification of those accused of vandalism.
Faced with this issue, the Defense portfolio indicates that “from the analysis of criminal news, 668 criminal actors have been achieved who have participated in violent acts during the development of public demonstrations, likewise it has not been possible to identify recurring criminal actors in behaviors associated with these ”.
This report is known just after social organizations called for new protests in Colombia against the government of President Iván Duque, whom the labor unions and unions question for allegedly “not talking or negotiating.”
“As this Government neither dialogues nor negotiates, we will continue the mobilizations throughout the country in the following dates: November 19, national strike; commemorative events and on November 21 in squares and emblematic places of the country ”, said the president of the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT), Diógenes Orjuela.
JAVIER FORERO ORTIZ
Political Drafting
