BOGOTA, May 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Colombian army tightened its control over Cali, the country’s third largest city, after the latest anti-government protests left at least 13 people dead.
The city’s streets were largely deserted after clashes late Friday pitted police against armed civilians. The country is in the second month of protests against the government of President Ivan Duque.
In Cali, a city of 2.2 million, the smoking remains of barricades and rubble heaps testified to the chaotic night. There, as across the country, poverty and the pandemic have sparked widespread anger and resentment.
The month of protests has left at least 59 people dead, officials say, including the 13 who died in Cali. More than 2,300 civilians and uniformed personnel have been injured, according to the Defense Ministry.
The dead in Cali included an off-duty employee of the prosecutor’s office who had fired his gun at two protesters blocking a street, killing one of them. Video on social media shows a crowd then pouncing on the shooter and lynching him.
Duque, who has been in Cali since Friday, said he was deploying military troops to support the police there and elsewhere as rallies have morphed into a broad anti-establishment mobilization.
The president ordered 7,000 troops to help clear and patrol blockaded roads in 10 departments, while a total of 1,141 soldiers were deployed in Cali.
At one point Saturday Duque was booed by a crowd as he appeared in public in Cali before traveling to the town of Popayan.
Duque, who on Friday chaired a security meeting in the city, afterward announced “the maximum deployment of military assistance to the national police” would begin immediately.
The police in Colombia are under the command of the military.
