Colombia Protest 2021: Demonstrators Continue to Grapple With Police Brutality and Economic Fallout

Demonstrators in Colombia continue to take the streets as the country's mass protests are nearing a month. Apart from the violence and police brutality the protesters encountered, Colombia also experienced a fallout in their economy as the protest that stemmed from a proposed tax reform continued to persist.

Although the Colombian government has negotiated with the demonstrators, Al Jazeera reported that protests and unrest are still occurring daily in the country. The report noted that another major national strike is expected on Friday.

Colombia Protest 2021: Police Brutality Persists as Demonstrations Continue

International rights organizations condemned the Colombian police for opening fire on the protesters. The said officers are reporting directly to Colombia's Ministry of National Defense.

Director of Human Rights Watch's Americas division, Jose Miguel Vivanco, said that punishing abusive officers and taking serious actions in preventing police brutality should be a top priority of the Colombian government.

"There's no meaningful way out of this crisis without a serious discussion on accountability and police reform," said Vivanco.

Since the demonstration erupted in April, The Guardian reported that the police responded brutally to control the crowd.

Temblores, a local human rights monitor pointed out that the police killed at least 43 protesters with mounting reports of sexual abuse, arbitrary detention, and torture. Apart from deaths, 46 people have suffered eye injuries from police tear gas rounds and rubber bullets.

"We are not going to put up with these human rights violations anymore," said a protester from Guardia Cimarrona, an Afro-Colombian organization created to protect their ancestral lands.

Colombia's Politicians Slam Protesters

Meanwhile, Paola Holguín, a senator from ruling Centro Democrático Party, slammed the supporters of anti-poverty protests during a virtual floor speech on Wednesday afternoon.

"Don't fool Colombians and don't fool the international community and stop crying over one eye," said Holguín.

Holguín's comment worried Alejandro Lanz, the director of Temblores.

"We worry that Holguín's speech legitimizes the violent actions of state forces," said Lanz, adding that comments regarding the violence that came from government representatives' aggregates impacts on the streets.

Holguín's comment prompted a senate vote on whether to censure the Colombian minister of defense over the police brutality and damaged property caused by protesters.

Colombia's Economy Suffers as Mass Protests Prevail

The economic sector of Colombia is also affected as the protests continue in the country. Many local businesses were damaged and burned down in the weeks of protests. Mass transportation and blockades were also affecting the economy of the country.

Disruptions due to the blockage were most evident in Colombia's third-largest city, Cali. Supplies of food, gasoline, and other goods forced some local businesses to shut down.

"So many people have lost their jobs [and] loved ones," Marta Lucía Ramírez, Colombian vice president, told a small group of reporters on Thursday, Axios reported. Ramírez added that poverty spiked to an extent where they lost years of efforts.

Despite the mass protests in Colombia, the country's vice president met with members of congress, USAID director Samantha Power and Juan Gonzales, the National Security Council senior director for the Western hemisphere, on Thursday.

Ramírez, who will meet with Secretary of State Tony Blinken on Friday, has asked the Biden administration for donations or loans of COVID-19 vaccines and other help amid the pandemic, which drives the social unrest in Colombia. The mass protests in Colombia started on April 28 over tax reforms proposed by President Ivan Duque.

Duque already withdrew the proposed tax reforms, but the protests grew into a major social movement focused on inequality and poverty.

WATCH: Colombia Unrest: Youth at Forefront of Anti-Government Protests - From Al Jazeera English