Bogota
At least 10 people in the city of Cali were killed in a day of anti-government protests, authorities said, as Colombia entered its second month of demonstrations that have met violent repression.
President Ivan Duque announced on Friday he was deploying troops to Cali while the nation marked a full month of Colombia-wide rallies that have morphed into a broad anti-establishment mobilisation.
“Ten people” are dead, “this is the toll we have this morning” in events linked to Friday’s demonstrations, Cali’s security secretary Carlos Rojas told Caracol radio. Police said eight of the 10 were shot dead.
Human Rights Watch said the situation in the city of 2.2 million was “very serious”. Jose Miguel Vivanco, the rights group’s executive director for the Americas, urged Duque to take “urgent measures to de-escalate, including a specific order prohibiting agents of the state from using firearms”.
Analysts have blamed the government’s militarised history for its response to the protests.—AP
