(Bogotá) Hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated on Sunday morning in major cities of Colombia to protest against the government, an unprecedented mobilization since the election of President Gustavo Petro in 2022.
“Petro, out!” » chanted the processions, which brought together the right-wing opposition, centrist political forces, former liberal allies but also numerous professional organizations and unaffiliated citizens.
“I voted for change, for Petro, but we continue to do the same thing. I walk because I think Colombia still has hope,” said Martha Estrada, a 64-year-old Bogotá resident and retiree, wearing a tricolor hat bearing the image of the Colombian flag.
Mr. Petro came to power in August 2022, becoming the first left-wing man to govern a country traditionally ruled by conservative elites. But his popularity is at its lowest, with a disapproval rate of 60%, according to the polling institute Invamer.
Nearly 500,000 people participated in the demonstrations according to cumulative figures communicated by the town halls of Cali (southwest), Bogota, Barranquilla (north), Cartagena (north) and Medellín (northwest), the second city in the country where the conservative mayor, Federico Gutierrez, welcomed a “historic” and “impressive” participation, supporting photos on his X account.
PHOTO JAIME SALDARRIAGA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Demonstration in Medellín
At the end of the morning, the local press, citing police estimates, already reported at least 200,000 demonstrators in the country.
In the capital, the procession set off at 10 a.m. (11 a.m. Eastern time) peacefully on a major artery in the city center, pedestrianized on Sunday morning.
Despite the bad weather, several tens of thousands of demonstrators, under umbrellas and slaloming between puddles, marched towards Bolivar Square, the traditional epicenter of Colombian demonstrations, packed with people at the end of the morning, noted AFP .
At the start of the afternoon, no incidents were reported, everything went peacefully, according to the Ministry of the Interior.
“White blouses”
Many health professionals, wearing their work clothes, were present in the demonstrations for the “white coat march”, at the call of several dozen doctors’ associations, to protest against the aborted reform of the health system.
“Health is not a game, it is a right,” we could read on signs and caps in Bogota, in reference to the recent political setback of Gustavo Petro, whose projects for the health system health were defeated in Congress in early April. According to this project, now definitively buried, the government intended to oust some of the private players from the system.
PHOTO FERNANDO VERGARA, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Demonstrators in Bogotá hold signs denouncing health and pension reforms.
In recent days, however, the government has intervened in several entities which serve as intermediaries between the State and hospitals (EPS), in order to control their budgets, provoking the ire of part of the medical community.
“As a doctor, I witness the deterioration of the health system, because there are no medicines to give to patients and because patients delay receiving care,” he told AFP. the Dr Julio Rivero, 35, who marched for the first time against the president.
But health is not the only reason for discontent: pension reform, the specter (regularly raised by Petro) of a constitutional revision, insecurity and the energy crisis are at the heart of Colombians’ concerns.
“The (pension) reform is unsustainable, young people will not even be able to have pensions,” worries Andres Amaya, 23, a young lawyer.
“We are the middle class”
Many signs enjoin the president to “respect the Constitution”, after the latter cast doubt on the convening of a Constituent Assembly, castigated as a threat of “coup d’état” by his opponents or a possible attempt to remain in power after the end of his mandate in 2026.
“Welcome to the marches,” declared Mr. Petro in a provocative tone on X on Friday, who also published a humorous video ironically about the “ruling class” demonstrators.
He also asked “the Ministry of the Interior and Defense to provide all guarantees so that people can mobilize and express themselves in complete freedom”.
Statements that annoy Betty Ospina, 67, a housewife: “it is time to unite so that he understands that we are not rich, but that we are the working middle class”.
“We must recognize that many people have mobilized […]. It is a week during which, as a government, we must demonstrate reflection and self-criticism,” wrote a close collaborator of the head of state, Laura Sarabia, on X.
Several former allies of the president participated in today’s march, like Mr. Petro’s former education minister and left-wing centrist, Alejandro Gaviria.