(17 Oct 2019) Teachers, trade union workers and others took to the streets of Colombia on Thursday to protest against proposed labor law and pension reforms that are key to President Iván Duque's legislative agenda. The nationwide demonstrations came hours after a high court ruled against a finance act the government had counted on to alleviate its deficit, marking another large setback to the president's plans. The act included a tax on sugary drinks and also granted tax breaks to companies that import machinery.
The government will now have to renegotiate the measure with Congress before it can try to move forward.
Meanwhile, labor unions and others marched through the largest cities in the South American country to express their opposition.
Fabio Arias, a member of the Colombian trade workers' union Central Unitaria de Trabajadores, said that workers had no other option but to protest and make "the government understand they can't keeping making the grand majority of Colombian citizens poor."
He expected the demonstrations to grow in coming weeks in light of a recent movement that managed to stop President Lenín Moreno in neighboring Ecuador from implementing reforms.
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