Thousands take to the streets in protest against Petro in Colombia

Thousands of Colombians took to the streets in the country’s main cities this Saturday (23) to protest against the current government, led by leftist Gustavo Petro.

The protesters called for “Petro Out” and opposed the reforms promoted by the executive, in addition to denouncing corruption.

In Bogotá, the National Park was occupied by protesters, who walked to Plaza de Bolívar, the main one in the country. The posters carried messages such as “Impeachment of Petro” and “So that Colombia is not the Venezuela of today”.

The crowd also chanted “Petro, coward, learn from (El Salvador President Nayib) Bukele” and “Petro, bandit, the people are offended.”

The opposition was also present at the protest. Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, from the Democratic Center party, declared that the march was “for a better future, to solve the problems, but also to face the reforms that cause damage” to the country.

Uribe is one of the presidential candidates and reinforced in the act that Colombians no longer want “corruption, impunity and violence”.

“Enough of this government that is harming the country. These marches show that there is a future, hope and that the future of Colombia needs to be built by all of us”, declared the congressman.

Eduardo Zapateiro, a retired general who was commander of the Army between 2019 and 2022 during Iván Duque’s government, was also present at the protest and said that the moment is one of unity. “We are sure that together, united, we will make a difference. We ask (Petro) to completely stop all its disastrous reforms and to think not about them, but about the country,” said Zapateiro.

In other cities, such as Medellín and Cali, thousands also occupied the streets wearing white shirts and with banners asking “Petro out” and “worst government in history”.

Regarding the demonstrations, the Colombian president published a video of the march on the social network X and declared: “No matter the number of people who demonstrate against me in the country, they will have all the democratic guarantees of my government”. Petro also stated that the demonstration with the most protesters took place in Medellín, with 15 thousand participants, while in Bogotá and Cali, the number was 4 thousand.