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Jun 9, 2021, 36 tweets

Live Thread🧵 of today's protests in Bogota #ParoNacional9J I'm near the airport at the scene where the Misak were gassed this morning near a statue of Christopher Columbus. Rain continues

ESMAD looks cute cuddling

Tactical community aesthetic enhancement on the two statues in the square, which have been splattered w red paint

Left: Colombia, "the origin of genocide"

Right: Spanish queen Isabella "No to colonialism"

Misak people talking to press (in Spanish)

Summary: (paraphrased) the story of colonization here in Colombia has been turned into a hero's take normalized by society. For the Misak, it is a story of blood and repression, much like the protests

Queen Isabella with her Imperial guard

Ladycop

My god she's so young

Things pretty calm here now. A lot of press present. I'm gonna head over to the main marches organized by the strike committee. Back with ya soon!

"I am Minga. I am Antifa"

By the way, for those not in Bogotá, it has been *dumping* rain all day. Surely the police are relieved about that

My Venezuelan roomates are convinced the Colombian government seeds the clouds before protest days. Hahaha

I dont believe that, but it does seem to almost always rain on the big days

Current scene at Tequendama hotel to welcome the CIDH commision

Etse pueblo no se rinde carajo
🔊⬆️

Sebastián, a young protester on why he's here (Español)

Things getting real tense

People NOT happy w the police to say the least

Yelling "murderers" at the cops blocking the entrance to the hotel

Rain stopped. We got more people rolling in from other marches
Some shots of the crowd

The skinny from your man on the ground

La guardia campesina has arrived from Catatumbo. That's a hella violent conflict zone near the Venezuelan border

10 minute break to find some aspirin. I'm skipping some much needs dental surgery to be here today 🤕

Brb!

Whole lot of vandals and terrorists here 🤭

This guy seems chill

La Esperanza #ParoNacional9J

"A Colombia without ESMAD" (the infamous riot cops who have been responsible for 20 of 60 odd deaths since protests began over a month ago

La guardia campesina has formed a human shield between protesters and police

The current scene

Protesters read, one by one, the names of the 71 who have died since protests began
#ParoNacional9J

Watch the fuck out guys, even the cows are pissed

Taking a break to go home, swap memory cards and charge cameras. I will be back for night protests after I figure out where they're concentrated. Thread paused but not over!

Resistencia carajo

#ParoNacional9J

Gassing people is hard work. Sometimes you gotta bring snacks for the boys after they repress the pueblo

Ok we're back! I'm headed to Monumento de los héroes to check out the vibe after sunset. If i hear there are demos at Portal Resistencia I might head down there after as well

Héroes!
#ParoNacional9J

It's raining again. Hahahah. But..

Chil scene

The rain makes for amazing shots tho

Ok i hear ESMAD is coming down hard on the Minga near the airport. I'm looking for a cab now to get there

So the Misak left after being gassed. I heard they were headed down 26 from human rights workers. We're trying to follow In a can

I dunno guys. Hahaha. I should have stayed at heroes i think. We followed 26 all the way to Centro and I don't see anything. I think the rain may have scared people off

Welp. Sometimes it happens. I'ma get a beer and call this. Sorry i missed the ESMAD confrontation. These things are unpredictable. But still, hell of a day.

Thanks all, as always for reading if you got this far. Y salud!

🇨🇴❤️✊
/END

I lied! One last photo at the hotel

Jose Ambulla, killed by ESMAD. His portrait posted here in the foreground. Colombian police in the background

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