30/08/2013 09:49
Colombian president calls for calm as farm protests reach Bogota
Thousands of Colombian farmers and state workers marched through Bogota on Thursday, banging pots and pans as they converged on the capital after 11 days of increasingly violent protests against agricultural and trade policies they say have left them impoverished, Reuters reported.
Students wearing balaclavas pelted shop windows with rocks near the capital's main square and clashed with riot police who fired tear gas to disperse them. Bogota imposed a curfew in three of the more populated areas of the city after violence continued into the night.
"Long live the farmers' strike! Food sovereignty," protesters chanted as they waved anti-government banners.
President Juan Manuel Santos, who has been unable to end the so-called national strike that has united potato growers, milk producers and teachers, acknowledged agriculture is in crisis, but called for peaceful dissent while talks about possible solutions are going on.
"The farm sector has been abandoned," the center-right president said in a televised address early on Thursday. "The protests are valid ... but, via dialogue, we will resolve the problems ... We are in a storm, but we will persevere."
Santos said he will lift import duties on 23 products, including some fertilizers and pesticides, to help lower crop production costs. He also is working to find more permanent solutions for the farm sector's problems.
"Please, let's not fall into the hands of the violent," said Santos. "Do not allow them to gain strength from these protests because it will distort the entire meaning of the demonstration and it leads to unnecessary confrontations that have led to deaths."