Colombia: Cali becomes the epicenter of the government repression to the popular protests
“Cali, Colombia, becomes repressive epicenter against strike”, 11 May 2021
...The escalation in the face of the protests ratified the city as the epicenter of the official response to the popular crusade for executive measures such as a tax bill (later withdrawn), as per local media outlets. The late-night clashes erupted in the western end of the city when the Mobile Anti-riot Squad began to dismantle the protesters' barricades and blockades, Caracol Noticias reported. Although both sides' casualties are unknown, the military and police continued to flood the streets of Cali last night, following an order from President Ivan Duque to end the demonstrations. This situation coincided with the announcement made from Bogota that the mobilizations will continue on Wednesday, after the failure of a meeting between the National Unemployment Committee and Ivan Duque...Duque instructed the Ministers of the Interior and Defense, Daniel Palacios and Diego Molano, respectively, to militarize Cali and guarantee there 'the greatest possible deployment of the capabilities of the public force'...