Why We Protest: Colombia

On September 9th 2020 a video began circulating on social media of police in Bogota hitting and tazing Javier Ordóñez, a father of two, who was abused to death in police custody. The event triggered a wave of protests around Colombia that ended with the killings of 13 protestors by the police. But beyond the issue of police brutality, Colombia’s unrest has been brewing for a long time. The fallout of a decades-long armed conflict, a peace process that appears to be coming apart at the seams, an impending economic crisis, and a government with far-right conservative leanings that has failed to appease the growing frustration —all factors driving the anger of everyday issues were at the forefront of the massive mobilizations that happened at the end of 2019 —the largest in decades—, and have only resurfaced stronger in the wake of the COVID lockdown. In this episode of “Why We Protest”, VICE embeds with some of the youth at the forefront of Colombia’s protest movemen