ROME — Pope Francis insisted Sunday on the right to peaceful protest, as thousands of Colombians continue rioting in the streets and firebombing police stations.
“I entrust to all of your prayers the situation in Colombia, which continues to be worrying,” the pontiff said Sunday following his weekly prayer of the Regina Caeli in Saint Peter’s Square.
“On this solemnity of Pentecost, I pray that the beloved Colombian people may be able to welcome the gifts of the Holy Spirit so that, through serious dialogue, they can find just solutions to the many problems that especially the poorest suffer, due to the pandemic,” the pope added.
“I exhort everyone to avoid, for humanitarian reasons, behaviors that are damaging for the population in exercising the right to peaceful protest,” he concluded.
Protesters brace themselves behind makeshift shields as they clash with police during anti-government protests in Bogota, Colombia, late Friday, May 21, 2021. Colombians have taken to the streets for weeks across the country after the government proposed tax increases on public services, fuel, wages and pensions. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
Demonstrations broke out in Colombia on April 28 when leftist unions urged people to take to the streets after President Iván Duque’s government proposed raising taxes on public services, fuel, wages, and pensions, a plan that was withdrawn days later.
Protests have continued, however, ostensibly against the government’s response to the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout on the nation.
According to the government, more than 1,000 police officers have been injured in skirmishes with the protesters. Officials have stated that says a small, violent core among the protesters have assaulted police with Molotov cocktails, rocks, knives, and handguns.
“Without a doubt there’s been police brutality,” said Gustavo Duncan, a Colombian university professor. “But you also have to take into account [the violence] coming from the other side.”
Protesters clash with police during anti-government protest in Bogota, Colombia, Friday, May 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
The rioters have burned police officers alive as well as blockading key arteries into major cities, particularly in western Cali, which has prevented the arrival of food and fuel to the population. Other activities of the “peaceful protesters” have included looting, robberies of medical supply trucks, and home invasions.
According to recent reports, the protests have been exacerbated by infiltration from Venezuela’s socialist regime, which opposes the reforms of Duque’s conservative government, allied with Colombian criminal groups.
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