BOGOTA: Thousands of Colombians marched in major cities on Wednesday against the right-wing government’s hard-line policies, the first day of a nationwide campaign.
The government “is going to fall!” trade unionists, Indigenous people, students and feminists yelled, led by former president Gustavo Petro.
Petro headed Colombia’s first-ever leftist administration and widened free access to public universities, oversaw record increases to the minimum wage and improved labor conditions for employees.
Leftists fear that these advances are under threat from his successor, US-backed millionaire Abelardo de la Espriella.
“I feel like we have no guarantees and that the little we did obtain... we’re about to lose,” teacher Ester Guerra, 32, told AFP in Bogota.
One day before Wednesday’s marches, De la Espriella passed a decree relaxing rules around official intervention in demonstrations, claiming the measure was necessary “to attack urban terrorism disguised as protest.”
“Violence, vandalism, and blockades that trample on the rights of millions of citizens will not be tolerated,” the president wrote on X.
The executive order also seeks to establish corridors and safe zones and corridors for transportation, essential services and critical infrastructure.
The move has raised hackles among demonstrators.
“They’re trying to frighten the population so people don’t go out to protest, but it’s in the Constitution as a right,” said Oscar Perez, a 40-year-old teacher.
Protesters also voiced strong disapproval of De la Espriella’s foreign policy.
The ex-lawyer has restored diplomatic relations with Israel, which Petro had broken off over the country’s offensive in Gaza.
He is also an enthusiastic US ally, and protesters burned an American flag in the streets of the capital while others waved Palestinian flags.
The president “just wants to hand the country over to the United States, to Israel. I feel dark times are coming,” said student Jimena Rodriguez, 20.
Senator Ivan Cepeda, who lost elections to De la Espriella by less than a percentage point, also attended marches in Bogota.
Traffic in the capital appeared calmer than usual, following companies’ calls to work from home and the suspension of classes in some schools.
Protests proceeded peacefully in other major cities.