Opposition leaders in Colombia have called for a mobilization in Bogotá for next February 16, with the aim of demonstrating against the current policies of the National Government.
Coinciding with the beginning of the ordinary sessions of the Congress of the Republic, the protest will take place in the emblematic Plaza de Bolívar.
The rally seeks to express discontent with recent reforms that, according to organizers, could harm employers and have a negative impact on the health and pension sectors in the country.
Opposition leaders hope that citizens actively participate in this day of protest to put pressure on political representatives at the beginning of their legislative period.
The call for this mobilization occurs in a context in which different sectors of society have expressed concern about the directions that the Government is taking in economic and social matters. The Plaza de Bolívar, frequently the scene of citizen demonstrations, would be the meeting point for the participants of this demonstration.
This announcement is limited to official information provided by opposition leaders and no external sources or additional comments have been incorporated. The selected date seeks to generate a media impact by coinciding with the opening of activities of the National Congress. The organizers of this mobilization aim to make disagreements visible and generate a possible dialogue that considers the concerns of different sectors of the Colombian population.
Through a video on social networks, Medellín councilor Andrés Gury Rodríguez is making the call against the policies of the president of the republic. “Gustavo Petro is determined to destroy the health of this country, to steal pension savings and to destroy the entire business community, now he wants to destroy our department of Antioquia and we are not going to allow it,” he says in the publication.
He adds that “we do nothing by marching in each city; We had agreed to march on January 20 in all the cities, but we have already recovered the cities, so the objective is for us all to travel to Bogotá on the day that the Congress of the Republic is installed, which is February 16 and we will stand in the Plaza de Bolívar to demand that Congress not approve Gustavo Petro’s disastrous reforms.”
From their perspective, the objective is to ask the Government to be respectful of the institutions and separation of powers that are enshrined in the Political Constitution. “We are going to demand that Gustavo Petro stop attacking the institutions, the regions and that he stops dictatorially imposing his madness, that is why we are all invited to Bogotá on February 16, 2024 to stand there and Let’s make it clear to that man that for us he is an illegitimate president, that he will not be able to do whatever he wants with the citizens and the country,” the councilor points out.
On the other hand, Carlos Alonso Lucio also supports the mobilization and announced that he will actively participate in it on February 16. “I support the march of the 16th (…) I agree with the citizen mobilizations, the protest against the Petro Government has been peaceful and they must continue to be that way and all of us who have marched are people with civic, peaceful and democratic values, who act within the constitutional order,” indicated Lucio.
He also added that he supports her “much more after this effort of anti-democratic criminalization for trying to identify marches that are peaceful and civic as a coup d’état and a crime.” Opposition leaders from different regions of the country are expected to participate in the mobilization. With Infobae