Violent protests erupt in Colombia anew over ‘egregious abuses’

Anti-government protesters and police traded blows in demonstrations across Colombia that marked two months of unrest in which more than 60 people have died. Colombia has been rocked by protests since April, following opposition to a proposed tax hike that morphed into a mass movement against the right-wing administration of President Ivan Duque. The demonstrators demand an end to police repression and more supportive public policies to alleviate the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has plunged more than 40 percent of the country’s 50 million inhabitants into poverty.