Thread by @InvisiblesMuros

THREAD: On ongoing protests in Colombia. After a some confusion on my part and a bit of a late start , I'm in Plaza Bolívar, where marchers are now rolling in

Much bigger crowd than I thought this morning, tho far from biggest so far. A walkthrough👇 #ParoNacional8M

Some updates while we wait to see how crowds look. Cali continues in strike, with many highways partially blocked and marches near the main point of protests Puerto resistencia

The Indigenous guard from the Minga, a communal indigenous movement composed of various communities from Cauca, have given an armed plainclothes polieman who they caught trying to infiltrate protests, back to authorities

I imagine he is being yelled at right now for creating a rather embarrassing situation for authorities 🤭

The Minga is a fascinating and recurring movement. Cauca is the deadliest region of Colombia and the indigenous guard are their highly respected unarmed security force. I had the honor of traveling with them for four days last year. More on that here 👇 thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2020/10/2…

I'm gonna head to La Hoja I think. Hear there's some movement there

Current scene at a women's march near la Hoja. Protesters briefly blocked one lane on the highway but are turning right into a residential area. Last time I was at one of these I went hope with a healthy dose of purple glitter 💜

Indepaz reports 379 people missing since protests began. This protester holds a sign asking where they are

And we're hit w torrential downpour as has been the case for nearly every afternoon since protests started. I'm going to take advantage of the pause to finish some edits on a piece in process. I hear there's a Bonfire ceremony at Heroes tonight. Thread paused but not over!

And we're back! At monumento de los Héroes, where night protests are ongoing

Colombian Spiderman not having it

Current mood

I'm told this was a cleansing ceremony. Protesters approached me quick when they saw the press badge. They expressed frustration w how national media has covered them. Were glad I wasn't

When I say approached me quickly, I don't mean out of a desire to talk. To be transparent they wanted to make sure I didn't work for Caracol

The art just keeps getting better. You may have noticed I really like street protest art

Caricatures: left a protesters impression of ex president Uribe. Right: Current president Duque
#protestArt

I'm gonna call it though. One observation from today: when there's no police brutality, there's less problems. Even despite major unions taking the day off a lot of grassroots events popped up. For the moment, the momentum seems to be w protesters. (Cont)

These things change fast tho and I'm not making any concrete predictions. I'm also exhausted. 11 days of little sleep, lots of walking, lots of gas and lots of violence. Today was a nice break. And tomorrow will be a better one. Thanks as always if you got this far. ❤️🇨🇴 /END