Roadblocks and protests disrupt Colombian city of Cali

The sugar mills that employ tens of thousands of people have ground to a halt around Cali, Colombia

CALI, Colombia -- The sugar mills that employ tens of thousands of people have ground to a halt. Broken stoplights dangle uselessly over downtown intersections. Police watch over burned bus stops and looted gas stations. Even the ice cream cone factory has gone silent. Anti-government protests have raged for nearly a month across Colombia, and nowhere more fiercely than in Cali, a western city of more than 2 million people normally famed more for its tropical music than for social unrest. At least 32 protesters have been killed in Cali in clashes with police since the protests began in late April, according to Indepaz a human rights group. It has identified 52 victims across Colombia as a whole. Protesters and police in Cali have accused each other of using live ammunition during clashes that still occur most nights in in poor neighborhoods, which are also home to gangs.