A mob set fire to a police station in Bogotá on Tuesday in which there were between 10 and 15 police officers inside who managed to escape the flames, while at least 15 other positions of that institution were targeted by vandals in an action that the mayor of the city , Claudia López, described as "brutal".

"The 22 human rights commissions that we activate have been preventing and protecting abuses of citizens, but the violent escalation tonight is brutal," the mayor said on Twitter.

According to López, 15 police officers "tried to burn them alive" in the Immediate Attention Command (CAI) of the La Aurora neighborhood, in the south of the Colombian capital, adding that another 15 of those positions were "vandalized" and there are "police officers shot "and" wounded with a knife.

"Bogotá suffers tonight (Tuesday) the attack of organized criminals who are being confronted by our public forces. We emphatically reject these attacks against members of the Police," said Colombian President Iván Duque at midnight.

Faced with the overwhelming violence, López asked the Defense Minister, Diego Molano, that the public force "help guard" the Police detention centers where 2,825 people are detained to "prevent them from putting the lives of those deprived of the prison at risk. Liberty".

The violent protests began on April 28 and until today have left, according to the Ombudsman's Office, 19 dead, a figure that social organizations such as Temblores raise to 31.

Likewise, the agency denounced that at least 89 people have disappeared, of which only two have been found.

The riot in Bogotá takes place on the eve of a new day of protests called for this Wednesday by unions and social organizations against the government's economic policy.

POLICE STATION FIRE

According to the authorities, the CAI of the Police in the La Aurora neighborhood was cremated when there were between 10 and 15 agents inside, of which five were injured.

"Prompt recovery for our police officers. Thanks to the community that interposed so that they were not incinerated within the CAI Aurora facilities by social misfits," said the commander of the Bogotá Police, General Óscar Antonio Gómez.

"At this time there is an escalation of violence in the city, here in the Tintal Library a SITP bus (Integrated Public Transport System) has just been incinerated and in other parts of the city," said the Secretary of Government of Bogotá .

CHAOS AND CLASHES

The clashes began in the afternoon in various sectors of southern Bogotá and spread to other areas where at night social organizations have denounced excesses of the Mobile Anti-riot Squad (Esmad) of the Police.

One of the most difficult situations was experienced in the Portal Las Américas, in the west of the city, where the clashes lasted for hours, there were at least three injured and a bus was burned, according to the authorities.

There were also riots in the Castilla neighborhood where the protesters were repressed by Esmad and the CAI was also attacked.

In other cities such as Cali, where an undetermined number of people have been killed during the protests, clashes continued despite the fact that five people died the day before and 33 more were injured, according to the Mayor's Office.

CUPS AND CANDLES

Although violence has been the constant in the demonstrations, on Tuesday night the sound of the cacerolazos echoed in Bogotá and there were peaceful acts in dozens of places where protesters gathered to reject the police repression and the violence that bleeds Colombia.

Even the protests today in the capital were joined by Dominican friars who marched through the streets of the city with a Bogotá flag and a sign that read "Love one another."