by SAM CARLINER & MADELINE FREEMAN
Biden played a key role in empowering the ESMAD police force that is now being used to crush dissent in Colombia. This is all the more reason the U.S. Left must make solidarity with the Colombian working class a priority.
In the last week, Colombia has exploded in nationwide protests and work stoppages against the government of President Ivan Duque. With over 19 people killed by state forces in the last week, and with image after image of brutal police repression going viral across the world, the protests have sparked international outrage and concerns about human rights abuses. Joining this chorus of voices is a growing number of organizations and politicians urging Joe Biden’s government to take direct action to curb police violence in Colombia and stop its continued funding of the country’s brutal riot cops, commonly referred to as ESMAD. For its part, the U.S. Department of State issued a mealy-mouthed statement condemning the violence and upholding the people’s “unquestionable right to protest peacefully” while also supporting “the Colombian government’s efforts to address the current situation through political dialogue.”
What has received far less attention, however, is the central role the United States has played in creating the very conditions that have sparked this heroic struggle. While the Biden administration offers gestures of performative indignation over the battle scenes coming out of cities like Cali and Bogotá, it conveniently ignores the fact that Joe Biden himself spearheaded the very policies that trained and funded the Colombian armed forces that are currently murdering and repressing the Colombian people with impunity.
Strikes and protests began spreading throughout Colombia on April 28. These uprisings come in response to a tax reform pushed by the country’s far-right government.
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