Bogota, December 12 (RHC)-- In Bogota, the Colombian capital, the Mobile Riot Squadron (Esmad) carried out attacks against protesters who were peacefully demonstrating at the National University of Colombia.

According to reports from social activists, the attacks against the protesters who participated in the peaceful demonstrations began shortly after they gathered at the university in the Colombian capital.

The people were protesting to demand an increase in the minimum wage in Colombia and respect for human rights.  Video footage released on social media revealed how the riot police stopped and ran over the citizens who protested peacefully for their rights.

"With this aggression of the Esmad against the youth, it is necessary to escalate the social mobilization at the national level," the former presidential candidate and  current Senator Gustavo Petro said after three weeks of anti-government protests in Colombia.

The Unitary Central of Workers (CUT), one of the organizations that make up the National Unemployment Committee, convened a meeting this past Tuesday, coinciding with the negotiation of the minimum wage (currently around $ 237 per month).

The attacks were reported in the context of the peaceful concentrations in which the workers grouped in several of the main trade union centers and the confederations of pensioners proposed a monthly minimum wage of one million pesos (approximately $ 294) for 2020.