Colombia mass protests lands into fourth week

Anti-government protests landed in their fourth week in Colombia, when student groups, unions and others took to the streets again on Wednesday to demand social change amid ongoing talks between the government and strike leaders. About 8,000 people attended protests in the capital Bogota, the mayor's office said.

"We are accompanying our young people, our children, our grandchildren, who, despite our struggle for so long, still have opportunities," lawyer Roberto Hermida, 68, told Reuters news agency.

Hermida stated he intends to present more educational opportunities and better health care. The demonstrations started last month after the government of right-wing Colombian President Ivan Duque introduced a tax reform that critics say would unduly hurt the working and middle classes, who had already been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Duque withdrew the proposal, but the protests continued as protesters expanded their list of demands to include the withdrawal of proposed health reform, an end to widespread violence in the country and steps to address economic inequality.

The protests were marked by violence, but the exact death toll remains unclear. The Attorney General's Office has approved 15 deaths in connection with the protests, while one human rights group says the count is more than 40. Duque blamed armed groups for most of the violence, but the United Nations and several rights groups condemned the Colombian police for 'protesting'.

Former president and Nobel laureate Juan Manuel Santos on Wednesday called on Duque to accept responsibility for police abuses.

"We need more gestures, we need more empathy and humility, and that the state needs to acknowledge, 'Look, we've been abused,'" Santos told W Radio.

The national strike committee, made up of major unions, student groups and others, has held several talks with government representatives on the demands of the protesters, but the two parties have not yet held formal talks.