His handling of the crisis – with deaths and a caseload well below most of Colombia’s neighbors – helped increase Duque’s approval ratings to the highest of his presidency.But the president is now betting on an economic reopening that carries health and political risks – and his opposition has re-emerged, along with the typically confrontational tenor of Colombian politics, after weeks on the sidelines.
Ivan Duque, Colombian center-right politician, lawyer, and author who succeeded Juan Manuel Santos as president of Colombia in 2018.

On June 19, he allowed scores of businesses affected by the pandemic to sell products without VAT tax, which immediately led to Black Friday-like scenes in some shopping centers. We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. The departments of Atlántico, on the Caribbean coast, and Chocó, on the Pacific, governments have had to reinstate total lockdowns.Opposition politicians are no longer showing much patience. If they do carry out any reforms to the justice system, it will be in favor of their interests and will lead to greater impunity.A third aspect is that Álvaro Uribe Vélez has always considered himself a powerful man, a patriarch who could not be questioned, someone who was practically untouchable.

This is disastrous since the agreements and advances that we made throughout the history of Colombia are steps forward in building a political solution to the social and armed conflict in our country. Within this neoliberal model, extractivist policies continue despite campaign promises such as a ban on fracking. But in this case, the government of Duque has not respected these commitments and gone directly against the just struggles for peace in our country and the steps towards building democracy.Another element is the sharp rise in persecution and political violence. El Futuro es de todos en un país con legalidad, emprendimiento y equidad. The current government has not respected the agreements with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and it has also blocked the possibility of continuing dialogue with the National Liberation Army (ELN).

These measures become control mechanisms rather than steps to guarantee the protection of people.Additionally, we have seen a series of reforms that are completely against the interests of the Colombian people. The first has to do with the search for paths to peace with justice.
We have seen measures that inject public funds into the private sector and to business owners. The pandemic is sharpening all of these tendencies that were already inherent to capitalism and patriarchy.Overall, the workers have borne the brunt of this crisis and the pandemic. We have seen how the economy has been reactivated through days of big sales and offers that led to huge crowds gathering in different parts of the cities in the super markets and in other big areas. The decision was all the more controversial because While Duque’s government says that shopping crowds were far more limited than a few outlier examples suggest, If Duque’s gamble pays off – and Colombians are able to slowly get back to business without it provoking a new surge in coronavirus cases – the second half of the president’s term may yield more tangible results than the first. Duque has left technical questions to a The overall effect has a decisiveness and clarity of vision that Duque had not displayed over his previous year and a half in government. In Colombia, more than 70% of the people who have died are from strata 1 and 2 (*). The businessmen, other political leaders  (both local and national), military forces, paramilitaries, large landowners – they are all involved in this situation of injustice and impunity and extreme inequality. In response to this, the government has continued with a management strategy that favors the economy and big business but is against the people and their survival.The order for the detention of Álvaro Uribe Vélez is a serious, destabilizing blow for Uribismo. If it backfires, and the coronavirus returns, The region had already been experiencing stagnant growth, rising inequality and a new anti-democratic wave. For the Colombian people, there are many challenges in taking forward the legal process against Álvaro Uribe Vélez and we hope that it will actually advance in a process of truth, in a process of justice, and that he will be judged and sentenced for the crimes that he has committed in this country.10-year-old rape victim in Brazil safely aborts after feminists expel religious extremistsThousands hit the streets in anti-government demonstration in BangkokResidents in East Brighton, UK demand affordable housing For the Colombian people, these two years have been marked by incessant attacks on the rights of people, an increase in violence and the deepening of the economic crisis. For the Colombian people, achieving justice is an enormous challenge. Cartagena has had to re-close entire neighborhoods. Colombia will open a trade and innovation office in Jerusalem, the country’s president announced Monday.

His approval ratings reached 52%, the highest of his mandate so far.Politics have also helped. The agreement with the FARC is understood as a state agreement between governments. Whether or not Duque’s gamble pays off may well set the tone for the rest of his government.As the first cases of coronavirus were confirmed in Colombia in March, Duque was in the political doldrums.