[Politics] Why did the marches of this September 26 exceed expectations?

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The demonstrations this Monday, September 26, against the policies of President Gustavo Petro exceeded expectations. In the early hours of the day, sectors that defend the public policies of the first left-wing administration were ironic about the call they considered to be languid.

(You can read: Why are they marching this September 26? Spokesman says that 'they do not intend to negotiate')

Among the reasons they expressed were several facts: it is a government that is starting up until now, it is a working Monday and many considered that the country's foci were going to be placed on the border with Venezuela due to its official reopening.

It even drew attention that well-known voices opposed to Petro asked to give him a waiting period.

(You can read: Petro after border reopening: the closure is a suicide that should not be repeated)

"I am not going to the march against Petro. It is premature and will minimize the march that already happened on election day when 10 million of us voted against him. The government's announcements are scandalous, however, even Petro deserves a reasonable waiting period," said Sergio Araújo Castro, who during the campaign had said he would fire employees who voted for Petro.

"His right to express himself will always be respected. But we will always have the right to inform when he is misinformed. In general, the marches did not have violence," tweeted President Gustavo Petro.

The mobilizations brought together hundreds of Colombians in the street.

In the images seen by the media and social networks, it was appreciated that a good part of the leading role in the streets was of older people. Quite contrary to what happened during the social explosion that they were young. This shows the enormous difficulty in seeking political consensus between the two generations.

"Despite the fact that the political moment is inopportune and that the Petro government is settling down, the opposition marches exceeded expectations," said analyst Andrés Segura.

"Of course, they are a long way from reaching the levels of participation that the first demonstrations of 2019 or 2021 had, but considering that there is still no clear catalyst that drives people to leave, the number shows some principles of social organization that need to be taken into account by the Government. They cannot fall into the trap of underestimating the discomfort that exists in some sectors", assured the expert in political communication.

(We recommend: March organizers say they are not seeking to negotiate with the Petro government)

For Jairo Libreros, a professor at the Externado de Colombia University, "social mobilization is an indicator of the proper functioning of a liberal democracy and if this occurs without the police repression that occurred in the government of Iván Duque, the democratic achievement is more important." ".

Pierre Onzaga, one of the spokesmen for this march and who led the march against the FARC in 2008, explained why, in his opinion, people should leave.

"Several of us citizens sat down to analyze all of Gustavo Petro's proposals for reforms: the tax reform, the Electoral Code, plus other reforms that he has been making and proposing in Congress, such as total peace and pension reform," he said.

(We recommend: Gustavo Petro and Álvaro Uribe would meet this Tuesday to talk about the tax)

"We found that there is one more intention to deinstitutionalize the country, to cut off freedom in some way, than really to bet on the development of Colombia. There is no intention to generate employment, there is no development plan behind the tax reform," assured.

These concepts seem to have been picked up by the protesters, as can be seen from the signs carried by various protesters.

Although analysts agree that it is difficult to make a balance of a government in such a short time -less than 50 days- they also say that in the Executive itself there are symptoms of management concern.

That explains the summit of ministers and heads of communication of the different dependencies for this Thursday and that seeks to send a single message to the citizenry.

Booksellers says that the National Government has time to rectify. He values what he has done, but notes that he is concerned that so many messages are creating confusion, an element that does not help in the execution of public policies and does contribute to undermining trust in institutions.

"Unfortunately, confusion seems to be the current problem in the country. Having opened so many spaces for discussion —taxation, total peace, land distribution, oil, pensions, health, the labor market, etc.—in a simultaneous and disorderly manner, uncertainty has increased and there is a risk of losing confidence in institutions," wrote Carlos Caballero Argáez, Master of Science at the University of California at Berkeley and Master of Science in the editorial pages of this newspaper. in Public Affairs from Princeton University.

"It is so devastating to see what is happening. I was looking at the numbers of the business opinion surveys collected by Fedesarrollo and we are already beginning to see a very great discouragement among businessmen and a decline in the investment climate. And, of course, the The economy is starting to slow down very quickly," said former Foreign Trade Minister and union leader Jorge Humberto Botero in an interview with journalist María Isabel Rueda, also in EL TIEMPO.

"The message is clear, no one liked the left foot with which the government began. This is the true citizen thermometer. The streets speak," said Senator María Fernanda Cabal, who on her social networks showed videos of the mobilizations in several cities of the country.

https://www.eltiempo.com/politica/gobierno/marchas-26-de-septiembre-contra-petro-por-que-superaron-las-expectativas-705302