I have lived in the working-class Chapinero neighborhood of Bogota, Colombia for ten years. About three weeks ago, my friends and I went to a call for a strike in front of the government offices. Ever since the pandemic, I have had reduced work hours. I now work only three times a week.
The march was something I have never seen in my life. I am not talking about its size but the mood of the people. Almost everybody was there because they were hungry and worried about their future. You can call it a hungry people’s march. People were fed up with the false promises. They wanted action.
I met women and men in their 20’s and 30’s who have been thrown out by the system. Bogota has a very large informal workforce. They earn their wages on a daily basis. The pandemic has taken a huge toll on them.
Then there are organized workers in the trade unions and professionals in technology, engineering, health care. They are facing layoffs except those in health care who are working too many hours for less wages. All these people were at the demonstrations in Bogota and then the strike wave spread to Cali, Medellin, Cartagena, Pereira, Bucaramanga and Barranquilla.
The demonstrations called on the Duque government to do away with recently imposed taxes. Then there were demands addressing housing shortages, food security, police brutality, and healthcare. These demonstrations have been going on daily for three weeks. Police have killed scores of people. In response to the mass violence by the police and the state, workers have shown more determination. In Bogota, transportation workers are striking along with the public service sector.
I believe that there is a need for a party like ICWP. I have been an occasional reader of Red Flag, but my experience has shown me that communism is what the masses need. No amount of police repression is going to pacify people who are striving for the complete elimination of poverty, hunger, and diseases. Communism can provide the correct channel to achieve this.
—Red Flag reader in Colombia
At the protest held in front of the Colombian embassy in El Salvador, we were present as the International Communist Workers’ Party. This is our first action as members of the ICWP. We were there to show our solidarity with our brother and sister comrades of the working class and the youth, who are being massacred by the murderous Duque government. We cannot remain silent in the face of the violent attack against those who demonstrate in the streets against tax reforms, aimed against the workers. All united with one voice in the search for a just system! We offer our support and share with all a photo taken this day.
—New comrades in El Salvador
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