Spiralling poverty and unemployment in the wake of the pandemic lie behind the widespread protests in Colombia that began on 28 April. Young people have been particularly badly affected, even though their generation has been largely excluded from the government’s negotiations with protest leaders – one half of an official response that has mixed dialogue with violent repression. As presidential elections approach next year, the situation is eroding people’s trust in political institutions.
Economic devastation
In the last year, an estimated 3.6 million people have fallen into poverty, while 2.78 million are now classed as living in extreme poverty. The result is that 42.5% of Colombia’s population now live below the poverty line, up from 35.7% in 2019.
A decade of anti-poverty measures appear to have been reversed, at least in part. The figures mean that more than 21 million people are currently being forced to subsist on the equivalent of less than $88 per day, with 7.47 million people living on less than $39 per day.
