The sky of the iconic Plaza de Bolívar, in the historic heart of Bogotá, is full of pigeons that have nowhere to land. The space usually occupied by hundreds of birds has been filled with thousands of people packed together like sardines. They wear the shirt of the Colombian national team, raise tricolor flags and some of Israel, hold signs with messages against communism and President Gustavo Petro, and sing “Fuera Petro!” and they wait anxiously in front of the Capitol, where something seems to be about to happen. At two o'clock in the afternoon, Uribe senator María Fernanda Cabal emerges with a flag in her hand, accompanied by Marta Lucía Ramírez, the vice president of former right-wing president Iván Duque. People go crazy. Everyone sings the national anthem, which continues with a chant of “God and Country! “God and Country!”
This is how a march ended that brought more than 80,000 people to the streets in Bogotá this Sunday, according to the capital's Government Secretariat. Simultaneous protests that took place in a dozen other cities brought together at least 400,000 Colombians – the vast majority in Medellín, where official figures indicate that there were more than 300,000 protesters. The scene in the Plaza de Bolívar was the highest point – and most Uribista – of a peaceful and calm march, which for much of the morning seemed like a huge family walk, and in which citizens participated with almost all types of complaints about Gustavo Petro, the first left-wing president in the modern history of Colombia. The reforms he has proposed, the negotiations with illegal armed groups, his cabinet changes and his relationship with neighboring Venezuela: none of his policies seemed safe from criticism this Sunday.
Health reform
The demonstration began four hours earlier, at 10 in the morning. Under a light rain and among the aroma of the wood-fired cooking of the Embera indigenous people who have been living in the National Park for months, the first thousands of protesters gathered. The chants of “Fuera Petro” begin. A quick glance reveals that tens of thousands more are coming from the north, the most prosperous area of the capital, along the traditional Carrera Séptima. Among the crowd, with his white dentist's coat on, is Víctor Rincón. “I am here to oppose the disastrous health reform. It is bad for the future of the country. Health in Colombia is one of the best in Latin America,” he says. “I also oppose the impunity that Petro proposes to illegal armed groups,” he adds and walks away.
These are complaints that will be repeated again and again during the march. A few blocks later, near the headquarters of the Ministry of Health, a wave of white coats descends the Seventh. The doctors carry signs that say “No to health reform” and “The EPS [Entidades Promotoras de Salud] “They have saved the lives of millions of Colombians.” President Petro proposed reforming the health system, effectively eliminating the EPS, so that the State would contract and send the money directly to the clinics and hospitals. This would change the heart of a scheme created in 1993 with the argument that it would result in a more efficient use of public resources. Many doctors do not agree and, for this reason, they called this march together with the Uribista opposition.
Juan David Linares is executive secretary of the Colombian Association of Gastroenterology. He holds a sign against health care reform, which is practically dead in Congress, as he walks toward Plaza de Bolívar. “The reforms want to end the well-being of the wealthy classes and the less favored classes. We are against the modifications that Petro wants to make. This president wants to end everything that has been built in the last 30 years,” he declares. As he passes in front of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, he says that at least 50 of the association's some 400 active members are at the demonstration. All, he explains, convened by the Colombian Association of Scientific Societies, the umbrella union of doctors. Minutes later, a spokesperson for this organization, Rubén Luna, affirms that they want to participate in the reforms made by the Government. According to him, they have not been given that opportunity.
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A political trial
The rain lets up and the crowd continues walking. In front of the National Museum a stream of Colombians of all kinds passes: parents with small children in strollers, groups of retirees with well-behaved dogs, a woman wearing a shirt that says “100% Cabal,” a man with a sign that reads “ “Petro terrorist.” Suddenly a voice on a megaphone stands out from the controlled chaos. “Thank you Colombia, we are making history!” shouts Henry Rodríguez. The man is wearing an orange jacket and is sitting on a float that is pulling a motorcycle. With a stronger tone than that of the doctors, he explains that he represents the reserve of the Public Forces and that they are protesting because they are dissatisfied “with all the measures that the Government has taken, but above all because of insecurity.” “We demand a political trial. With Petro, democracy is at risk,” he declares.
-Why do you think democracy is at risk?
-Because they are talking about touching the Constitution. It's the last thing we want.
-Are you referring to the Constituent Assembly that the president has proposed?
-Yeah. Petro is seeking re-election. That can not be allowed.
Precisely, Petro has explained that the Constituent Assembly that he has proposed, among other topics, would address the implementation of the 2016 peace agreements, judicial reform, territorial reorganization and climate change, but not a possible re-election. “I have no intention of re-electing myself and I will not promote a constituent assembly in that sense,” he stated in an interview with El Tiempo, published on May 18.
Rodríguez's float gets lost in the crowd while thousands of people pass by with other complaints about Petro. Some posters accuse him of exceeding the electoral limits during his campaign in 2022 – a fact for which the National Electoral Council is investigating him -, others say they oppose the pension reform, others the labor reform, others say he is a terrorist, others that It has no brain; It seems that there are plenty of reasons to leave.
The uribistas
Almost at the gates of the Plaza de Bolívar, Celmira Aponte holds a huge banner marked with the phrase of the day: “Out with Petro. Petro out”, the chant that everyone repeats from time to time. She explains that she has come with her husband, her brother, and several of her friends. The 62-year-old accountant is an agglomeration of all the criticisms heard in this march. “We have to protest against all of Petro's policies, which are disastrous. Both the smallest ones and the biggest ones,” she says.
When asked which measures they dislike the most, she responds with a list of at least 10. She talks about pensions, oil, transportation, the countryside, agriculture; She clearly is not happy with the president. “The best president we have ever had was [Álvaro] Uribe was excellent during his first term,” he adds, revealing his right-wing position. When the interview ends, her husband approaches, a man with a round and kind face, who presents a complaint that will be heard a lot in the next few minutes: “They are going to destroy us like Venezuela, Cuba, all the leftist countries.”
Under an already clear sky and a hot Bogota sun, the crowd finally arrives at the iconic Plaza. As they enter, they applaud a group of three police officers who are standing in the buildings of the Palace of Justice, the headquarters of the highest courts in the country and an iconic place, since it was taken in 1985 by a commando of the M19, the guerrilla in the that Gustavo Petro fought for years. The uniformed men respond with shy smiles; They do not know what to do. The chants of the protesters become more and more aggressive: “Petro, bandit, the people are offended!”, “This is the route, to get that son of a bitch out!”
In front of the Capitol, a couple who have come together talk, precisely, about removing Petro from power. Fernando Gutiérrez explains that he is a retired Air Force officer, and speaks with the authority of an experienced military man. Next to her, her wife, Nuria Grisales, says that she is 58 years old, that her husband “has a couple more,” and laughs. “Petro is a lying person. A person he doesn't meet. What he is trying to do is turn Colombia into a Venezuela, and we are not going to allow that,” the man declares.
-You were singing about getting Petro out, do you think that's possible?
―If all the Colombian people are united, we can achieve it. Because there are more of us good than bad.
—Why do you feel it is necessary to do so?
―Because of his decisions. He proposes the reforms and if they are not accepted he makes them by decree. He is a dictator!
Moments later, Cabal and Ramírez come out to say hello. The couple is moved, like thousands of others, who sing with them, who shout “Fuera Petro” with them. It is 2:15 in the afternoon and a large part of the protesters have already left for their homes, many before right-wing policies assumed a leading role. A few steps from Congress, a man holds a sign with a phrase that well defines the general feeling of those remaining in the Plaza: “I want a new Álvaro Uribe Vélez.”
Petro responds
At 4:44 in the afternoon, with the Plaza de Bolívar already empty, Petro responded to the demonstrations that, according to him, totaled more or less 250,000 people throughout the country: “The main objective of the marches is to shout 'Out with Petro and overthrow the Government of change. This process has already begun and is a soft blow that annuls the popular decision for the change in the year 2022,” he declared in X. He then added: “The fate of the Government will depend exclusively on the support of the people. Let the people be heard then “The president has invited Colombians to take to the streets, in a kind of countermarch, on May 1.
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