As you can tell by the title, this post is about the current situation happening in Colombia, which, if you have not heard of, Colombia has been in Paro Nacional – National Strike – since April 28th, 2021. 

Fast forward to September of 2021, people were wondering if Colombia was still in Paro Nacional and how the country’s situation was. Since 4 months passed and the pandemic is still here, people kind of forgot why the Paro Nacional started, which is why we decided to recap, to inform, and do our best to answer those questions in a way that people that are not Spanish speakers could understand them.   

During the creation of this video we had the opportunity to talk with a photographer and journalism student from Bogotá, and with a professor and poster creator from Cali-Colombia. Together we shared how the Paro Nacional has persisted and what are some of the reasons why people continue taking to the streets after 4 months.

Yulieth Rojas is a journalism and anthropology student that during the Paro Nacional enrolled Plaza Capital, a communication and public opinion program at her university, in order to do the media and press coverage of the protests in Bogotá. 

Zecarrillo is a graphic artist that, like many Colombians, felt the necessity of doing something about the situation happening in Colombia. While working in La Linterna (The Flashlight) a letterpress printing in Cali that has been around since 1938, he and many others created hundreds of posters about the Paro Nacional with messages that reunited people’s feelings.

As a quick recap, what started the Paro Nacional in the first place was the tax reform that the government released on April 15 of 2021, in order to boost the economy after the six-month lockdown of 2020 and the global pandemic that is still around us. The tax reform stated that whether you are rich or poor, you will be taxed 19% on basic things like water, electricity, milk, eggs, and more. This is in a country where people are already struggling to eat three times per day. Studies show that in the last six months, poverty covers almost 50% of the population and one in every four people under age 28 is unemployed. 

On April 28th, 2021, Colombians took to the streets and their right to protest against the tax reform. Many Colombians can recall that they have never seen so many people standing together for the same cause. After four days of people marching in different cities of the country, the tax reform was removed along with the resignation of the minister that promoted it in the first place. However, the tax reform opened Pandora’s box to other issues in the country: “since November of 2019, it was perceived that something was happening here, right? That something was happening in social terms, and that something was that people, in general, were showing a high discontent with what was happening in the country, right? That discussion that occurred around that time, and that the pandemic in Colombia like in other countries, reduced the resistance, I think that after being locked up for so long, people’s voices came back with much more force” Said Zecarrillo

“In this Paro Nacional ‘‘ continued Zecarrillo “the orchestral symphony for example, for the first time in a very long time, left the auditorium and went to the neighborhood Puerto Resistencia, a place in Cali where people get together, to play and support the Paro Nacional. When the Police came to cover the murals grey, days later, even more, powerful and colorful murals were painted again”

Sadly, Cali Colombia was one the places in the country that suffered the most violence and misplaced information: “Something that the Paro Nacional did was shake us because the violence that was indifferent to us for many years, reached our cities” said Zecarrillo. 

Colombians were already tired of the injustice, the corruption, lack of equality, and if that wasn’t too much, they had a new health reform upon them. This means that while people were making themselves heard and fighting the tax reform, the government wanted to continue with a health reform that basically established that if you can not afford to pay it, you would not be treated. Posters in social media showed: “If the tax reform ruins us, the 010 (health reform) kills us”. After continuous days of protesting, social media live streaming and thousands of messages against it, the health reform was removed. 

By the one-month mark, an article in Science Magazine showed that: “More than 40 people have now died and there are more than 2000 complaints of police brutality, including 27 cases of sexual violence; nearly 200 people are missing”. 

After the 2 month mark, television and mainstream media in the country stayed away from talking or making references about the Paro Nacional that was still present in Colombia. Instagram profiles, newspapers columns and Facebook live streaming were being censored, taken down, or unable to be seen. “Something that happened with Lucas [student that got shot during the protests in Pereira-Colombia on May 5th, 2021, and that passed away a few days after] and Dilan [student that got shot and killed by the ESMAD in Bogotá-Colombia during the protests of Paro Nacional of 2019 ‘21 N’ ], was that we could not share the truth because at Plaza Capital we were under threat”

Instead of shifting away or getting distracted with soap operas, people became more aware of the content being shared on smaller platforms and used them to be informed about how the situation was developing. Yulieth’s Instagram profile @kyroja.ph was one of them: “It was time to show it and for people to feel it… what I try to do with my photographs is that people can feel and can see a reality that I see. It’s something very subjective to do, but it can create awareness and reflection”  said Yulieth. The awareness helped the Primera Línea, the people fighting the police, and the Anti-Riot Squad, tremendously because people made sure that everything that was happening was being registered online. 

After 4 months of Paro Nacional, Colombians are still taking to the streets, the young people in the Primera Línea from different cities are still unable to go home because they are not safe and they are being persecuted. Cases against the police keep going up, the violence and missing people have not stopped, the Colombian currency is devalued every day, and all of this while there’s a pandemic in the picture. 

The tax reform was removed, but it does not finish there. Colombians are in need of a tax reform that is correct and fair for the people in the country, as well as a health reform that understands that everyone has a right to be treated and taken care of. And above all, justice for the ones that are no longer here, the ones that are still missing, and the ones that have suffered all kinds of violence from the government, Police, and Anti-Riot Squad. 

“The Paro Nacional that began in Colombia, since April 28, 2021, can be considered the largest in the contemporary history of the country,” said Proclama. The National strike does not stop, #SOSColombia continues to reach out to platforms of international news, national programs, and even at a film festival in Europe. The Colombian flag, where yellow was the predominant color, is now dressed in red.

If you have not seen the video, you can see it by clicking right here ↓↓↓↓

Hey and welcome back to the Medellín AV Club Blog! We are thrilled to announce that we have a new Youtube channel, it’s been a long time coming but it’s finally here!

As many of you know, the Medellín AV Club launched in December of 2020 with the Legends of Medellín project. At that time, we decided with the team that it was a good idea to create a Medellín AV Club series under Rob LaFond’s personal channel. But fast forward to September of 2021, things have changed, we have gotten bigger and we decided that it had to have its own channel. We have big expectations and dreams with the AV Club and we want them to be all in one place. Besides that, Rob’s channel is more about his music and more of a lifestyle vlog kind of content. Which, by the way, watch out for what he’s going to be sharing with all of you very soon!

In The Medellín AV Club Youtube channel, you can expect to see some sneak peeks of Legends of Medellín. But mostly high-quality definition content, like drone footage, about Medellín, that way, you guys can learn things about the city before you come to visit or to know more about places that you’ve been before. Hopefully, soon we can add other cities to the channel! 

If you have not seen the welcoming video, it’s right here ↓↓↓↓

And we will see you very soon, chao!

In case you have not noticed, Colombia has been going through a National Strike since April 28th, 2021 and it has been a mix of emotions because in the middle of the uncertainty, a pandemic, human rights being violated, people getting injured, and missing, Colombian people have never felt more united and stronger. 

Lorendiz González, a photographer that has been part of many protests and has created a visual story about what is going on, took a photo that said this: “They are dealing with the generation that studies art in Colombia. There’s no fear!” and that is a message that Colombian people have not seen before. That’s why we wanted to create this video, to show you some of the artistic performances that have been present in Medellín, not only during the protests but also in other scenarios all over the city. 

This is ‘Parque de los deseos’ which is now known as ‘Parque de la Resistencia’ since it is the place where La Primera Línea de Medellín is located and where the protests start and end most of the time. As you can see, there are all kinds of messages that reunite the frustration, sadness, and anger that Colombians have felt for years, but there is also a sense and feeling of hope and empathy. Organizations and small businesses have been providing food, water, and first aid help to Primera Línea during this time. Parque de la Resistencia is where people come to paint their emotions, share words of empowerment to the fellow cities in the country, and pay tribute to the ones that have been killed or the ones that are fighting for their lives.

Kipará Batucada is a music group that has been a companion for the ones marching; their music gives people a sense of unity since everybody feels part of the protest. In the group, each musician represents an animal and its energy, this comes from the Embera, an ancestral community in Colombia, where the animals are considered pure and sacred. For them, art has been a crucial element during the Paro Nacional because it has motivated and invited people from different backgrounds to come together to fight for change, in their words: “WE RESIST FROM THE ART, we assert our right to protest peacefully, with the love, joy, and strength that characterize us”. Their drums and faces painted show the diversity and the values they stand for. 

J J is an art and dance teacher that in collaboration with his students, started to think about the possible performances during the Paro Nacional that did not involve the common symbols of violence, that’s how ‘Empaquetados’ came to be. The performance took place at Parque del Poblado, in which a group of people puts themselves, some of them naked, inside of a transparent trash bag, closed it, and stayed in it for 30 minutes. For J. J. actions say more than words, and the bodies in the bags pay tribute to people’s bodies that have been appearing floating in the rivers, not only during this Paro Nacional but all over Colombia for a very long time.

Part of Colombia’s society often believes that the ones that go out to protest are the kind of people that just want everything for free, that lack education, or that they do not know what they are talking about, which is in this case, incorrect. 

In this Paro Nacional, the younger generations are the ones taking to the streets and throughout the month parents, uncles and elderly people have been joining them. Because as Martín Buber said: “Where there is no participation there is no reality”, Colombian people are creating their own reality, they have educated themselves and have created a critical perspective about the way that this country has been lead, knowing that even though the change is not going to come easily, it is necessary. That’s why, after a month, El Paro no Para, Colombians are still protesting and fighting for what has to be done correctly. 

If you have not seen the video, you can see it by clicking right here ↓↓↓↓