Protests in Colombia & Chile Show That Neoliberal Reforms Don't 'Work Well' – Political Analyst
Islam Times- Nation-wide protests continue in Colombia despite President Ivan Duque's announcement of a "National Conversation" aimed at calming the unrest on 24 November. Gonzalo Fiore Viani, a lawyer and political analyst, outlines the driving factors of the Colombian turmoil.
On 2 December, Duque agreed to negotiate an end to the anti-government protests with the strike leaders in parallel with a National Conversation that was denounced by the Colombian National Strike Committee last Thursday for not being truly "inclusive".
Earlier, the committee, which comprises unions, students, university lecturers and indigenous groups, published a list of
13 demands which includes the suspension of neo-liberal economic reforms, the dissolution of Mobile Anti-Disturbance Squadron (ESMAD) after the death of 18-year old protester Dilan Cruz, and the implementation of the 2016 peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Indigenous Factor in Colombian Protests
According to Gonzalo Fiore Viani, a lawyer and political analyst from Cordoba, Argentina, it was clear from the very beginning that Duque’s initiative
would not help to calm down the situation, since the problem is much broader it appears at first glance.
"Look at what happened in Chile, Pinera launched a series of government initiatives to try to bring an answer to the protesters but it didn’t help at all," Viani stresses.
Shedding light on the complex nature of the Colombian unrest, the political analyst highlights "the indigenous factor".
"According to the 2018 census, 1,907,617 people in the country belong to native communities, that is, 4.4 percent of Colombians," he notes. "According to the data managed by social organisations, every 72 hours an indigenous man is killed at the hands of the paramilitaries. The highest percentage of them is in the northern region of Cauca. According to the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca (CRIC), 22 indigenous people were killed there during 2018. While so far in 2019, the victims from those communities amount to 56."
On 29 November, representatives of the CRIC, an organisation based in the south-western Cauca department, joined demonstrators in Bogota, to protest against the killing of indigenous people by illegal armed groups and drug traffickers.