On August 29, hundreds of Colombian soldiers took to the streets of Bogotá following violent clashes and riots. President Juan Manuel Santos later acknowledged that he had "militarized" the city as a preventive measure to curb violence.
"I've taken some measures to assure normalcy... I ordered the militarization of Bogotá," Santos told local media from the Colombian Presidential House, El Comercio reported.
However, Jorge Rojas, secretary of Bogotá's mayor, was quick to affirm that the president's measure does not mean in any way that the city is under siege, noted the newspaper. MIlitarization means "only a reinforcement (of security), organized and commanded by civilian authorities," Rojas clarified to reporters.
Following several protest on Thursday in support of a farmers' proposal, which resulted in violent clashes between protesters and police that left at least two dead, Colombia's president decided to use soldiers to carry out "patrols in coordination with the police."
According to Cuba Debate, Santos also assigned 50,000 soldiers to guarantee mobility and transit on the capital's main avenues, and urged the Colombian Air Force to guarantee the supply of food in cities.
A week after the violent protests, the Colombian government declared that it will not negotiate with agrarian workers that demand guarantees to access to land property, the creation of famers' reserves, favorable policies towards artisanal miners, better medical services and access to drinking water in the rural regions of the country.
TeleSur reported that the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism of Colombia, Sergio Díaz Granados, celebrated the implementation of a Free Trade Agreement in Colombia, and affirmed that the government will not negotiate the measures and international agreements in the face of the agrarian sector's protests, which have been joined by students, medics, miners and teachers.
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