POLITICAL parties, trade unions and social organisations in Colombia have launched a new campaign to protect life, demanding aid for the poor and an end to assassinations.
The “cacerolazo” a form of protest involving people banging pots and pans started on Wednesday night, pressing for demands that include a universal basic income to mitigate losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Colombia Humana movement said: “If the government does not provide guarantees for a dignified life, then the people will express it on the streets.”
Colombia Humana called for investment in and improvements to the country’s health system, which is struggling to cope with Covid-19 and provides inadequate services to the rural and indigenous population.
Last modified on Mon 25 Jan 2021 02.17 EST
When authorities pulled the lifeless body of four-year-old María Ángel Molina out of a river in rural Colombia on 13 January, the South American country mourned what was the 14th documented case of femicide this year.
Her murderer, Juan Carlos Galvis, also kidnapped María’s sister, and later admitted to authorities that he committed the brutal crimes in order to punish the girls’ mother for seeing another man.
With five more femicides, murders directly related to the victim’s gender, documented since María’s killing – 18 in total, with a further 13 to be verified – rights groups are worried about the safety of women and girls once again forced indoors with abusive men amid a new round of strict lockdowns to curb coronavirus outbreaks.