Thousands Of Colombians Protest Against Government Tax Proposals

Thousands of protesters answered calls from Colombia’s biggest unions to fill streets across the country to demonstrate on Wednesday against a controversial government tax reform.

Unions insisted the strike would go ahead despite a court order to postpone the protests on concerns about a third coronavirus peak that is stretching the health system to breaking point. The Andean country has reported more than 2.8 million coronavirus cases, of which 106,482 are active. More than 72,000 people have died.

The proposed tax reform was originally meant to raise about $6 billion, equivalent to 2% of gross domestic product (GDP).

However, earlier on Wednesday finance official Juan Alberto Londono said the government could lower the targeted sum to between 18 trillion and 20 trillion pesos ($4.8 billion to $5.4 billion) as it looks to build consensus among lawmakers.

The government is proposing a suite of new or expanded taxes on individuals and businesses, as well as reducing or eliminating many tax exemptions, including on product sales.

“This protest is legitimate as it represents a national rejection of the economic and social policies of this government,” said Francisco Maltes, president of the Central Union of Workers (CUT).

He said on Facebook the reform would “plunder the pockets of (ordinary) Colombians, while not touching even a hair of the super-rich.”

The reform is crucial for Colombia to keep its investment grade debt rating, according to the government.

The city of Cali put in place a 1pm curfew and deployed the army after several buses were burned.

Security forces “will act where incidents of vandalism or violence happen,” said Defense Minister Diego Molano.

Wednesday’s protests are the most recent in a series of marches which began near the end of 2019 against the social and economic policies of President Ivan Duque, who leaves office next year.

Strike leaders will meet on Wednesday afternoon to take a decision about another protest planned for Saturday, Maltes said.

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Turkish Cypriots Offer Two-state Plan at UN Talks, Dismissed By Greek Cypriots

The Turkish Cypriot delegation to U.N.-sponsored talks proposed a two-state solution for Cyprus on Wednesday to end the conflict with Greek Cypriots and put the island’s two communities on an equal footing, but it was swiftly rejected by the Greek Cypriot side.

The Mediterranean island was split in 1974 between a Greek Cypriot south and a Turkish Cypriot north. Only Turkey recognises the breakaway state in Northern Cyprus.

The proposal was presented at informal talks with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Geneva, who had urged both sides to “be creative” after a four-year stalemate in peace negotiations.

The foreign ministers of Greece, Turkey and Britain are also taking part as guarantor nations in the two-day talks.

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, who presented the plan, told Reuters earlier this week that he hoped his proposal for a two-state solution will bring a “new vision” to the talks, despite its prior rejection by Greek Cypriots. read more

“The Turkish Cypriot proposal is aimed at establishing a cooperative relationship between the two States on the island based on their inherent sovereign equality and equal international status,” the Turkish Cypriot proposal said.

It called on Guterres to take an initiative leading to the U.N. Security Council adopting a resolution securing the equal international status and sovereign equality of the two sides.

On that basis, negotiations would follow under his auspices on the future relationship between the two independent states, focusing on property, security and “border adjustment”, it said.

Any agreement reached would be submitted for approval in simultaneous referenda in the two states, it added.

But Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades, who serves as president of the island’s internationally-recognised government, said that the proposal was a “great disappointment”.

“Of course I have told the Secretary-General that our attempt was to create a positive climate, without provocations, without any references to whatever unacceptable (things) we heard. I have also told the Secretary-General that we will submit, in writing, our own positions,” he said in a statement.

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