How teens helped lead Colombia’s national strike
(Courtesy of Vanessa Jimenez/AFP via Getty Images)
Colombian student Orquídea writes about the government’s proposed tax reforms and how young people helped reverse them.
On April 28, 2021, thousands of people across Colombia took to the streets to protest the government’s new tax reform bill. The bill proposed lowering the threshold at which salaries are taxed (affecting anyone with a monthly income of $656 or more) and increasing taxes imposed on businesses and the number of goods covered by value added tax (VAT). This bill would have hurt the middle and working classes, who are already disproportionately suffering because of the pandemic’s impact on our economy. From teachers and students to farmers and Indigenous communities, we all want the best for our country — especially during the global pandemic — and we all knew this tax reform wasn't the way. Seeing so many different people uniting and fighting for our rights inspired me and encouraged me to raise my voice to show my support for the cause as well.
The protesters’ message was very simple: We are done paying for the government's misuse of funds. Our government spent 14 billion Colombian pesos on war vehicles when the country is not near any war, but is failing to provide our people with COVID-19 vaccines and now also wants to raise the price of many essential products during an economic downturn. When the country needs our politicians the most, many of them have shown us their most selfish side with these tax reforms. But the people of Colombia know our voices have power, and we want our leaders to hear them.
As a Colombian teenager, I was thrilled to see all the creative ways us citizens — and especially the youth — expressed our support of the protest, including clever banners, nursery rhymes or poems and emotional songs in traditional Colombian rhythms. Using the hashtag #paronacionalcolombia, we shared information on social media about this strike and our opinions about this situation to spread awareness and information. During my online lessons, my classmates decided to wear the national soccer team's T-shirt to show support for the country, and one of our teachers even decided to join us with the team's T-shirt as soon as he saw us! It was a very exciting and proud moment for all of us.
Teenagers have done more than wear T-shirts in the fight to reverse these reforms. We were also a big help when things got ugly. Police brutality during strikes and protests has been a huge systematic issue in Colombia for the past few years; the police officers that take part in this often go without facing any consequences. Hundreds of teenagers — either from the streets or from their homes — made sure police faced repercussions for their abuse of authority by taking videos and pictures and sharing them on social media. Posts by Colombian teenagers helped this issue go viral and have been a key aspect in raising awareness about police brutality. Because of the importance of social media in these protests, censorship has become an issue as well. In Siloé, Cali — an epicenter of the protests — users experienced internet service disruptions and were unable to do livestreams in order to share what happened during the protests on May 5.
“Hundreds of teenagers — either from the streets or from their homes — made sure police faced repercussions for their abuse of authority by taking videos and pictures and sharing them on social media. Posts by Colombian teenagers helped this issue go viral and have been a key aspect in raising awareness about police brutality.”
On May 2, Congress withdrew the tax reform bill in response to the protests and our Minister of Finance just quit. However, this is only the first step toward progress. There is more that needs to come. Colombians are continuing to take to the streets to oppose the police violence during the tax policy protests and are demanding broader social changes and police reform. There is still a bill to amend the health care system that Congress will review soon, and most people are not happy about it because it would make it more difficult for people to access specialized medical professionals and lower the quality of medical students’ education in those specializations.
My main wish is for the government to take more measured decisions — like opening a dialogue table with protesters, particularly teachers guilds, college students unions, social leaders and public transportation drivers unions — and listening to their demands instead of resorting to police violence. According to BBC News, there have been at least 19 deaths and 800 people injured during these protests. This could have been prevented if the president had withdrawn the tax reform sooner; he waited four days after the strikes began to take action.
I love my country and its people. I will always fight for our rights and lives. By sharing my thoughts about this situation I hope to raise awareness about the hardships Colombians are facing right now and, along with all the other young activists in the country, pave the way for a better future where our rights are protected and our quality of life is prioritized.
Editor’s note: Orquídea is a pseudonym
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