More on the protests in Colombia

Don and riot police

I will do a series of short blogs because of the incompatibility of my iPad and Blogger.  Last night, the President declared a curfew and all was quiet.  We heard protesters chanting this morning, but no one was allowed into the Plaza, so life looked pretty normal.  We have moved on to Medellin.

We heard many different opinions about the protests and the police response.  Our guide and the Congressman we talked to believe that the campesinos and students are righteous in their demands.  Poverty is so pervasive that increasingly the children of the rich are the only ones who can afford to go to college.  Our guide, who is 42, has a son at the university and she and her husband have gone deeply into debt to pay his tuition.  Her daughter will follow him.  She said they would have to sell their house to pay their debts (but her mother, sister, niece and nephew share the house with them, so they would have to find another place to live also).

Our travel agent felt the police had been very moderate in their response.  He said rumors were that some of the FARC rebels had infiltrated the protests and started the violence that led to 2 deaths and lots of vandalism.  Protesters threw rocks, paint, rotten fruits and more at the police who, by the time we talked to them, were tired and hungry.

We chatted with a woman officer, beautifully made up, covered with jewelry, who seemed to be in charge as, indeed, she was.  She was the colonel of the police unit guarding the Presidential Palace and completely charming and calm as we talked.  Shortly after, the mayor gave the order to clear the square, which led to our encounter with tear gas, called pepper gas by Colombians.  The policemen and soldiers we talked to in various parts of the downtown area also seemed calm and competent, though the morning paper had a photo of one riot policeman hurling back a rock that a protester had thrown at him.

It seems the President has decided to stop negotiating with the protesters.  Probably not a good idea because the police presence needed to keep things calm may be massive and expensive.  But, I don't really know much about the origins of the anger nor the conditions that brought it to a boil.  We will continue to discuss the politics and economics of Colombia with everyone we can to try to learn more.  The people we've met have universally been cordial and warm, police included.