Repression in Cali, Colombia leave many dead

Cali, June 1 (RHC)-- Two people participating in a peaceful sit-in in the north of Cali, in western Colombia, were killed with firearms by assassins, according to preliminary information, in the framework of mobilizations, sit-ins and blockades against the neoliberal policies of the government of Iván Duque.

One of the victims is a member of the "front line" of the social movement underway in the capital of the department of Valle del Cauca, but local police blamed the shooting on "a confrontation between criminal gangs..."

The incident occurred just minutes after the Cali Mayor's Office and the Union of Resistances signed an agreement to institutionalize a dialogue in the city, an act in which Mayor Jorge Iván Ospina said: "we are working to build from dialogue and peace."  The authorities are making the respective inquiries to confirm what happened.

In the last week there have been similar acts against demonstrators in Cali, who have been attacked by unidentified individuals, in some cases directly associated with the government and in another with paramilitary elements.

On May 28, one month after the beginning of the protests, in the framework of the National Strike against President Duque's government, 10 people were killed in that city.

The President himself, Iván Duque, then went to the capital of Valle del Cauca, from where he initiated the reinforcement of the militarization of the country with the approval of a presidential decree on the matter which affects, in particular, Cali, one of the epicenters of the protests.

In response, members of human rights organizations and political parties in the city of Cali have held the government of Iván Duque responsible for the threats and hostility represented by "these practices of terror" against their members.