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Rcw's avatar

This take is just as accurate as the CNN’s “mostly peaceful protests” last year. To begin with, Duque’s government is as conservative as Biden’s. They are comparing a centrist to very left wing ideologues.

I am a Colombian with family in bogota and Barranquilla. These protestors have destroyed public and PRIVATE properly, attacked private shop owners, burned down businesses and are being agitated by supporters of Maduro. they are being led by faction of Petro’s henchmen, the ex-mayor of Bogota, a crooked, power hungry politician who is again trying to win the presidency next year. Petro was a disaster for Bogota. He is an inept leader whose Marxist beliefs and sympathy with Venezuela will ensure that Colombia WILL be the next Venezuela.

My brother’s business is paralyzed. He cannot transport materials that are waiting at the port and he cannot transport his good out for delivery. He cannot get paid, but he has to pay storage penalties at the port. During the pandemic, he has kept his employees working in safe and stable conditions, but he is unable to pay his rent and is losing business daily.

These so called protests are disruption the life of the country more than the pandemic, and if my brother has to close his business, many people will be put out of work. Many businesses are under this same stress. It is not sustainable and it is not genuine. People are being manipulated into believing that these protests are reasonable, but they are riots.

This is the consequence of the so called peace plan. After over 8 years of “taxes for the rich” where capital was taxed at disproportionate rates in order to pay for the peace deal, the country has not only seen the the rich and also international investors flee, losing jobs and opportunities, but it is still at war, still completely bankrupted and unable to help the vulnerable, and now the economy is handicapped.

young people in this video don’t understand what they are protesting for or against. They don’t understand the history of Marxism in the region, and they don’t seem to understand that this is the road to total collapse like in Venezuela.

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Nicholas Spinelli's avatar

We adopted our son from Medellin in 1987. Yes, 1987 when the country was Thunderdome. I spent time in Medellin and Bogota w/ Carlos before bringing him to Miami to meet his new mom. The country of Colombia is flawed, like all countries. But, the people are good, hardworking, religious, people. I saw the darkside of Colombia first hand as I saw the the good hearted side. People were so nice to me as I, a new dad, stayed in hotels w/ a 2 year old boy who spent the first 2 years of his life in orphanages and foster homes. The brave attorneys, judges, and journalists took their country back from billionaire sociopathic drug kingpins. It wasn't pretty! We need to care about Colombia. You see, our cocaine habit turned their country into chaos. Yes, the coke industry just moved elsewhere. But, we owe a debt to these people. Thanks Matt for writing this. I have been following the conflict, mostly from foreign sources. Please follow Matt's prompt and keep apprised of what is happening in that beautiful country.

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