Colombia's Duque more optimistic than critics after meeting to calm protests

"We had a productive meeting with the coalition of hope, a great opportunity for dialogue, overcoming differences and without political point-scoring," Duque said on Twitter, referring to the group of politicians. But opposition attendees said Duque needed to do a lot of work to address demands for action on poverty, unemployment and ending police violence.

Colombian President Ivan Duque met with political opponents on Friday and afterward he expressed more optimism than they did about progress made toward calming more than a week of widespread and sometimes deadly street protests. "We had a productive meeting with the coalition of hope, a great opportunity for dialogue, overcoming differences and without political point-scoring," Duque said on Twitter, referring to the group of politicians.

But opposition attendees said Duque needed to do a lot of work to address demands for action on poverty, unemployment and ending police violence. The group "entered talks with President Ivan Duque as opposition and we left as opposition," said Jorge Robledo, a senator for Colombia's Dignity party. "We laid out our points of view and he laid out his."

They urged Duque to meet with civil society protest organizers. Peaceful marches were taking place in Bogota and Medellin, while road blocks across the country slowed food deliveries, causing some prices to rise. The government is set to meet on Monday with the national strike committee - made up of unions and other groups - but has said it is willing to move the meeting forward.

Demonstrations began last week in the Andean country on outrage prompted by a tax reform plan that would have raised sales taxes. That proposal was canceled but demands now include a basic income and withdrawal of a long-debated health reform that opponents say is too vague to correct inequalities. The human rights ombudsman has reported 26 people killed since protests began, but says seven were unrelated to the marches themselves. Advocacy group Human Rights Watch has reports of 36 deaths and called police violence "alarming."

Protest groups are skeptical of dialogue with Duque, saying similar talks accomplished little after 2019 demonstrations. The government must curb police violence, Green Party congresswoman Katherine Miranda said.

"The government is two-faced. By day it offers dialogue and conciliation but by night it shows only repression," Miranda said. One of protesters' chief demands is the disbanding of feared riot police squad ESMAD, which Duque has ruled out.

"Protests will continue for as long as there is no result from dialogue," Francisco Maltes, president of the Central Union of Workers (CUT) said in a video this week. Others backed an end to demonstrations.

"The moment the government decided to withdraw (the tax reform), popular victory should have been declared," Gustavo Petro, a leftist senator and likely 2022 presidential hopeful, told Blu Radio on Friday. "At the moment there are no clear objectives," he said.

Poverty and unemployment rose during coronavirus lockdowns, deepening entrenched social inequalities. Nearly half of Colombia's 50 million inhabitants were living in poverty at the end of 2020. Talks offer a way out of the crisis, said Democratic Center congressman Edward Rodriguez.

"The success of the dialogue depends on listening to everyone," Rodriguez said. "And that it leads to public policies." Voters are likely to carry discontent to the ballot box in 2022, the Green Party's Miranda added.

"There will be a change in the country's model (of government)," she said. Duque cannot run next year, but peoples' displeasure may damage his party.

What is happening at protests "is not favorable for the government, nor for its party, nor for its electoral fate in 2022," said analyst Sergio Guzman, of Colombia Risk Analysis. The armed forces justice system said late Thursday a major has been arrested for alleged homicide in a protester death last weekend.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)