Large protests against Petro’s policies in Colombia
Tens of thousands of Colombians began to fill the streets of the country’s main cities on Wednesday to demonstrate their rejection of the policies being promoted by the government of President Gustavo Petro, such as the health policy that was presented on Monday.
With Colombian flags and banners with messages such as “our health is not to be touched” or “Bogotá does not want to be the experiment of reforms”, citizens gathered in the National Park of the Colombian capital to protest in rejection of the government’s initiatives, which in the coming weeks will also present to Congress a labour reform and another of the pension system.
“I don’t agree with Petro’s policies (…) I am against all the things he is doing. The health reform is going to let us die,” Emilio Zuluaga, one of the protesters, told EFE news agency as he made his way to the Plaza de Bolivar, the centre of Colombia’s political and judicial power where the different citizens’ groups will meet.
The health reform was submitted to Congress on Monday amid widespread controversy over changes to the system of care for Colombians. The Colombian government wants to transform the health system to strengthen primary care and also bring care to the “abandoned territories”.
This is the first social reform to be presented by Petro, which will be followed by others such as labour reform, pension reform and even a change in the energy matrix to replace fossil fuels with clean energy.
