Weekly Report - 17 September 2020 (WR-20-37)

Political tensions between President Iván Duque and the mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López, burst into the open this week. There was palpable friction between Duque’s right-wing Centro Democrático (CD) government and López’s left-of-centre Alianza Verde (AV) mayoralty over the optimal response to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, especially over the speed of economic reopening, but their divergent response to the police brutality that rocked Colombia last week, and unleashed a wave of unrest, not only exposed their personal differences but also laid bare the country’s political fault line with profound consequences for peace and reconciliation. 

The death of Javier Ordóñez, captured on social media being repeatedly tasered by two police officers [WR-20-36], provided the catalyst for major protests on 9 and 10 September, which were in some instances violently repressed by the police, producing 10 fatalities in Bogotá and three in the contiguous municipality of Soacha. Hundreds more people were injured in clashes with the police, while around a third of the capital’s 156 police kiosks (Comandos de Atención Inmediata de la Policía [CAI]) were vandalised and 15 Transmilenio buses torched.

End of preview - This article contains approximately 1335 words.

Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article

Not a Subscriber?

Choose from one of the following options

• Subscribe
• Sign up for a one-time, 14-day trial