Thousands gather for renewed Colombia protests, curfew called in Bogota
Thousands of Colombians gathered for renewed protests on Friday (November 22) and sporadic looting erupted in several parts of the capital Bogota, after mass marches on Thursday resulted in three deaths.
More than 250,000 people marched on Thursday to express growing discontent with President Ivan Duque's government over rumoured economic reforms, which the president has denied, and anger at what protesters say is a lack of government action to stop corruption and the murder of human rights activists.
Thousands gathered on Friday afternoon in Bogota's Bolivar Plaza for a 'cacerolazo' - a traditional Latin American expression of protest in which people bang pots and pans.
The crowd, which included families and elderly people, was abruptly dispersed using tear gas, sending protesters running up the steep narrow streets of the historic district.
Some protesters regrouped at nearby intersections and continued chanting, while people in other neighbourhoods gathered in celebratory cacerolazos, temporarily blocking some roads.
A 9 p.m. curfew is in force for all of Bogota with the exception of the Bosa, Kennedy and Ciudad Bolivar neighbourhoods, where the curfew is to begin at 8 p.m.
Several supermarkets in the south of the city were looted as protesters, many masked, burned items in the street and blocked roads. Other protesters stole a public bus.
Some people were taking advantage of the protests to 'sow chaos', Duque said in a televised address on Friday evening.
The protests have coincided with demonstrations in other Latin American countries, including anti-austerity marches in Chile, protests over vote-tampering allegations in Bolivia that led President Evo Morales to resign, and inflamed tensions in Ecuador and crisis-hit Nicaragua.
(Source: Reuters)
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