The protests come as the country reels from bombing attacks in the southwest and attempted assassination of a senator.Protests have been held in Colombia as supporters of left-wing President Gustavo Petro express their support for his proposed labour reform, with the country rattled by an eruption of violence in the last week amid fears of a return to darker days of assassinations and bombings.
Petro on Wednesday signed a decree to hold a public referendum vote on the labour reform.
Large numbers of people took to the streets of the capital, Bogota, and other cities across the country to express continued support for a referendum on the reform proposed by the president, even as the Senate debates an alternative bill.
The protests come as Colombia is still reeling from bombing attacks in the southwest of the country that left seven dead and an attempted assassination on conservative opposition senator, and presidential hopeful, Miguel Uribe Turbay at a campaign rally in Bogota.
In the city of Cali, Colombia’s third largest and the centre of Tuesday’s bombing attacks, “there were calls to suspend these rallies” due to the recent bout of violence in the country, said Al Jazeera’s Alessandro Rampietti, reporting from Bogota. Advertisement
“However, people decided to come out in the streets again in support of the government, rejecting the violence of the past days,” said Rampietti.
Bystanders look at the wreckage of a car after it exploded in front of th …
