Pope Francis calls for dialogue in Colombia and defends “the right to demonstrate peacefully”

Pope Francis called on Sunday for a “serious dialogue” to find a way out of the social crisis that began in Colombia on April 28, aggravated by brutal police repression, and defended “the right to demonstrate peacefully.”

“The situation in Colombia is still worrisome. On this solemnity of Pentecost, I pray that the beloved Colombian people know how to welcome so that, through a serious dialogue, fair solutions are found to the many problems it faces, especially the poorest due to the pandemic”, declared Francis during the Sunday Angelus prayer.

Pope Francis also urged the security forces to “avoid, for humanitarian reasons, behaviors that are harmful to the population in the exercise of their right to demonstrate peacefully.”

In the midst of a third and deadly wave of the covid-19 pandemic (Colombia adds more than 80,000 deaths), a tax increase project unleashed demonstrations throughout the country, whose violent repression left dozens dead.