Streets Blocked, Barricades Burned As General Strike Roils Colombia

The left government wants to enforce social reforms – but the right-wing Senate majority has blocked the project. President Petro wants to enforce a referendum on it by decree if necessary.

Left-wing president Gustavo Petro wants to put pressure on Congress, which refused to organise a "popular consultation" on health system reform and labour law reform.

This time the government of Colombia has not released drone shots. This Wednesday’s marches, called by the workers’ centers in the framework of a call for a 48-hour national strike, were much less nourished than those of the past May Day. In Bogotá, they went from more than 30,000 to just 3,000 people, according to local official reports. President Gustavo Petro and his bases have opted for social mobilization as a demonstration of their politic…

Blockages in public transport in the capital, Bogota, disrupted the daily lives of hundreds of thousands of users from dawn.

The Petro government and related social organizations failed to meet the expectations of what they called a “national strike,” the beginning of a “widespread strike” after the collapse of the first popular consultation. This is demonstrated by the low call for mobilizations registered in Bogotá and other cities of the country, as well as other instruments, such as the open lobby, which also counted on low participation. The strike was cited for …

Petro’s consultation revives Chavista tactics: targeted mobilization, manipulative questions and institutional delegitimization. Colombia must take note The article How Close Is Gustavo Petro to Be Like Hugo Chávez? was originally published in Las2orillas. Copyrights Las2orillas.co