Thread by @naypaingtweets

Thread on Colombian protests, context and what we can do to help.

#SOSColombia

Forgive me if I get anything wrong, I am also learning about what my brothers and sisters are going through.

The current demonstrations started against unpopular tax reforms proposed by the Duque government in response to rising inequality, poverty and unemployment from the COVID-19 pandemic. They quickly grew in response to a sharep surge in state violence.

Scenes of shocking police-brutality were shared thousands of times online, including shooting with live rounds, motorcycles ramming into protestors, and battering protestors with police shields.

https://twitter.com/YourAnonCentral/status/1389633880752226307

Colombia, like many Latin American countries, were subjected to colonialism from European empires as well as an expansionist US foreign policy since the early 1800s. In particular, the US has had a heavy hand in fueling the civil war as well as quelling popular movements.

There are many parallels with Myanmar including one of the world's longest running civil wars, political assassinations (Gaitan/Aung San), political interference (US/China), outsize role of the military, diverse ethnicities, and history of human rights abuses.

Myanmar people and Colombians share more in our desire for freedom, basic human rights and dignity, decent living and wages than in our language, culture and traditions.

We must stand with them in this fight. Remember our shared humanity.

#SOSColmbia #WhatsHappeningInMyanm‌ar

Share their stories, read their history, listen to the Colombian people.

There are no excuses in this age, esp. the privileged ones outside of Myanmar, to ignore the plight of oppressed people everywhere in the world.

"First they came for them..." We must stand together!