After Three Days of Violence; Defiant Peace

Protests continue in Colombia with nation-wide parties

Joshua Collins
Muros Invisibles
Published in
4 min readNov 24, 2019

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Colombian police firing tear gas into a crowd in Bogota Nov 21 (Photo: Joshua Collins)

Bogota- The city has endured three days of increasingly violent street battles between police, Protests in the capital city of Colombia sparked a military curfew, three deaths, indiscriminate tear gas volleys and a critically wounded teenager as national protests escalated.

Last night, however, was partying for peace.

The government withdrew the army from the streets and protesters continued their nightly ritual of the cazerolazo, banging pots and dancing in the streets in support of the national strike.

And it was a hell of a party. The cazerolazos were staged all over the city, in parks, busy intersections, public squares and even in front of the residence of Colombian president Ivan Duque.

Similar mobilizations happened in every city in Colombia.

Considering the city woke up Saturday morning under emergency military curfew, it was a defiant response to recent harsh actions of Colombian state forces.

Protesters in Parque de los Hippies in Chapinero, Bogota lit candles in homage to peace (Photo: Joshua Collins)

Protesters and Police Clash

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Joshua Collins
Muros Invisibles

A reporter on immigration and world affairs, based in Cucuta, Colombia. Bylines at Al Jazeera, Caracas Chronicles, New Humanitarian and more