Since April 28, Colombia has witnessed one of the largest popular mobilizations in the country’s history. The massive protests began as a national strike — called by students, workers, trade unions, left-wing parties, social movements, peasant communities, indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, and feminist collectives — against the US-backed government of far-right president Iván Duque and a now-withdrawn regressive tax reform.

The bill would have raised taxes on basic necessities and public services (water, electricity, and natural gas), disproportionately affecting the poor and middle classes. Over May Day weekend, the demonstrations expanded in scope and intensity, turning into a popular uprising despite a deadly police crackdown.

More than five millions Colombians, 10 percent of the total population, have taken to the streets over the past two weeks to protest against neoliberal policies, economic hardship, social injustice, environmental devastation, government corruption, police brutality, and the systematic murder of activists. They demand the resignation of President Duque and fundamental social, economic, and political reforms. Yet progressive opposition politicians, such as the center-left reformer and 2018 presidential candidate Gustavo Petro, have not played a leading role in the protests.