Colombian police announced that at least 209 of their personnel have been injured in the past two days in clashes with protesters against the government’s proposed tax reform.
On Friday, police said 209 officers had been injured since April 28, including 71 in the capital Bogotá and 68 in Cali, Colombia’s third-largest city.
Police arrested 185 people during the protests, including foreign citizens and minors.
Colombian authorities deployed security reinforcements in the southwestern city of Cali, where the fiercest clashes took place, resulting in one death, according to local authorities.
It should be noted that the demonstrations in Colombia began on April 28, in addition to the general strike announced by the unions.
The court banned mass events in the street due to the deteriorating epidemiological situation in the country, but the protest organizers ignored the warnings.
Thousands of Colombians are protesting against tax reform, through which the government seeks to increase budgetary imports by about $6.8 billion, or 2% of GDP, which calls for expanding the collection of capital gains tax, broadening the tax base, and imposing additional taxes, including a 10% tax on incomes above $660 per month, starting in 2022.
