PanamaTimes

Wednesday, Oct 28, 2026

The distance in dialogue grows between the Unemployment Committee and the Colombian Government

The distance in dialogue grows between the Unemployment Committee and the Colombian Government

The leaders of the strike denounced today that the Government refuses to sign the so-called "pre-agreement of guarantees of protest."
The National Unemployment Committee , made up of unions and social organizations, and the Colombian Government again showed their differences and clashes this Sunday when it comes to dialogue to seek a solution to the serious crisis that the country is going through after more than a month of social protests.

The leaders of the strike denounced today, six days after announcing that they had reached a pre-agreement, that the Government refuses to sign the so-called "pre-agreement of guarantees of protest", while the Government clings to the condition of lifting the blockades before to sit down "to build agreements."

"The only thing we ask the Unemployment Committee to sit down to build agreements is the lifting of the blockades," the government explained in a statement, after the last meeting held today with the representatives of the National Unemployment Committee, which is criticized for turn for not having a real representation on the protests.

The Government, which hides behind the "thousands of Colombians representing millions" who have taken to the streets today to protest against the national strike, asks that they commit to carry out every action or conduct that is necessary for them to rise up, so that all blockades in Colombia will cease forever.

And he regrets that the National Unemployment Committee "instead of showing solidarity with Colombians, has insisted on its support for the blockades."

However, the Committee, in another statement dated today, denounced that the Government has taken out of the pre-agreement that they had reached on Monday "crucial issues" such as demilitarization and the non-use of military assistance in the protest, since President Iván Duque He resorted to this measure on Friday, after the acts of violence in cities like Cali (southwest) or Madrid (center).

"It is not about adjustments in the wording, as they had announced, it is about undoing the pre-agreement reached and thereby closing any possibility of negotiation," the Committee alleged, noting that the national government has a simulated will to negotiate.

With "the escalation of military and police measures, the already very delicate human rights situation is blocked, spoiled and the efforts made to start negotiations are wasted, unnecessarily prolonging and at very high costs, a solution, which in any case will be at through a negotiation", considered the committee.

Both the UN, the European Union and several countries called on Saturday for a serious dialogue as a solution to the crisis and to prevent more violence and more people dying, after 13 homicides were confirmed on Friday in Cali after a day of clashes with the Police and the irruption of armed civilians in the protests.

Both the Government and the National Unemployment Committee insisted in their statements on the willingness to sit down and talk and seek agreements, but 20 days have passed since the first meeting between the two parties and progress is minimal and no solution or consensus is seen on the table.

The NGO Temblores and the Institute of Studies for Development and Peace (Indepaz) recorded 60 deaths during the protests of the last month in Colombia, of which 43 are attributed to the public force. Of the total deaths, 39 took place in Cali, the majority in the first week of protests.

The Prosecutor's Office, for its part, counts 43 deaths, although only "17 of them have a direct link in the framework of the protests" and continues to search for 123 people who have disappeared during the demonstrations.
Newsletter

Related Articles

PanamaTimes
0:00
0:00
Close
Advertising trick: Pepsi’s Harrier Jet Commercial Led to a $700,000 Court Fight
Why 2027 Could Be a Strong Year for Stocks—and Why the Forecast Is Fragile
Trump’s Top General Seeks an Exit Strategy From Iran War, Report Says
Brock Lesnar Retires From Wrestling, Closing a Career of Rare Athletic Range and Lasting Controversy
Trump-Era Policy Shifts Test the Boundaries of U.S. Institutions
Weight-Loss Drug Boom Tests the Limits of Prescription Advertising Rules
Breaking With the Past: One of the World’s Smallest Countries Changes Its Name
AI Is Remaking the US Economy, From GDP Growth to iPhone Prices
Cuba’s Grid Fails Again as Fuel Crisis Deepens
Nazca Lines Flight Crash Kills Thirteen as Peru Suspends Aerodiana
OpenAI Faces Demands for Full Disclosure After Models Breach Hugging Face
FIFA’s Private-Investment Plan for World Cup Rights Draws European Revolt
Why Americans Queue for $15 Ice Cream and a $100 Caviar Pint
OpenAI Sued After ChatGPT Allegedly Discouraged Emergency Care Before Near-Fatal Embolism
Miliband Sets Climate and International Law at Centre of UK Diplomacy
Trump Readies New Tariffs as Temporary Global Levy Nears Expiry
Morgan Stanley Builds a Wall Street Lead in AI Infrastructure Finance
High Prices Push Coffee Drinkers Toward Whole Beans and Home Brewing
Spain Defeats Argentina in Extra Time to Win Second World Cup
Venezuela’s Earthquake Devastation Turns U.S. Investment Opportunity Into a Thirty-Seven Billion Dollar Reconstruction Challenge
Ukrainian Drones Strike Wildberries Warehouses Deep Inside Russia
The Ledger Will Not Trust on Faith
Trump Administration Pressures Banks to Restrict Financial Access for Undocumented Immigrants
The Ten World Cup Finals That Defined Football History
Smartphones Are Getting More Expensive, Sales Are Collapsing, and Even Apple Admits: "Prices Will Rise"
The AI Race Enters Its Infrastructure Era
Colombia Influencer Dies After Cosmetic Procedure at Unlicensed Bogota Salon
A Quiet Bastille Day: France Grapples with World Cup Heartbreak and Leftover Fireworks
Spain in Ecstasy: "We Feel Unbeatable, We Taught the Whole World a Lesson"
On the Island That Did Not Yield to Trump, There Is No Electricity, and 10 Million Live in Darkness
World Cup Visitors Turn American Big-Box Stores Into Souvenir Stops
Anthropic Reengineers Agentic Architecture to Shift Autonomous Workplace Automation to the Cloud
Global Crisis Alert: Escalating Middle East Tensions and UK Political Upheaval
Japanese Technology Firm Fujitsu Launches Advanced Artificial Intelligence Tool for Corporate Disclosures
South Africa Officially Launches Nationwide Campaign for Highly Contested Local Government Elections
United Kingdom Commits Additional Funding for Unexploded Ordnance Clearance in Laos
Singapore Announces Stringent New Greenhouse Gas Regulations for Commercial Cooling Systems
Cambodia and Thailand Hold High-Level Border Security Talks at United Nations Headquarters
Myanmar Military Government and China Sign Major Agreement to Upgrade Media and Cultural Cooperation
Knife Attack at Swiss Train Station Leaves Three Injured in Suspected Act of Domestic Terrorism
Transnational Extortion Gang Threatens Canadian Police With Army of One Thousand Armed Operatives
Australia Imposes Forty-Two-Day Quarantine on Cruise Ship Passengers Following Deadly Hantavirus Outbreak
International Monetary Fund Unlocks Seven Hundred Million United States Dollars for Sri Lanka Following Economic Reforms
Australia Launches Record One Point Four Billion Dollar Lawsuit Against Chemical Giant 3M Over Contamination
China and Canada Foreign Ministers Meet in Ottawa in Effort to Stabilize Strained Diplomatic Ties
Indonesia Demands Urgent United Nations Security Council Reform Amid Escalating Global Conflicts
Extreme Weather Patterns Trigger Severe Drought in Madagascar and Destructive Flooding in East Africa
Indian State of Karnataka Faces Political Upheaval as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Abruptly Resigns
Philippines and Japan Reaffirm Defense Ties as Crucial for Indo-Pacific Regional Stability
Norway Joins French Nuclear Deterrence Initiative in Major Shift for European Security Architecture
×