The Association for Social Research and Action (Nomadesc) is marking the 5th anniversary of the national strike and social uprising in Colombia.
Yesterday, they posted on social media: “First day of commemoration. Yumbo has become a space of memory, meeting and complaint. It’s been 5 years since April 28, 2021, and there are still names the country can’t forget. Today we raise our voices again for the killed, missing and displaced young people, because without justice there is no closure, and without memory there is no country.”
Amnesty International has summarized: “Throughout the 2021 National Strike, Colombia witnessed mass demonstrations across the country. The protests made visible the historical claims of marginalized populations in the country. Inequality, racism, violence and the consequences of the internal armed conflict were key structural causes of the social explosion. …Instead of listening to the demands of the thousands of people who demonstrated, the government of Iván Duque responded with repression and violence to discourage the peaceful protests and ultimately to punish those who were demanding change in the country.”
On this 5th anniversary of the national strike in Colombia, we highlight again the solidarity expressed by the labour movement in Canada at that time.
Click on the hyperlinks to see statements from the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), Unifor, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the United Steelworkers (USW), the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), the Union of Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), the British Colombia General Employees Union (BCGEU) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
We continue to follow this from Canada.
Further reading
-Nomadesc organizes 5 actions to end impunity on the 5th anniversary of the Social Uprising in Colombia (PBI-Canada, April 25, 2026)
-Questions remain about the use of Canadian armoured vehicles and helicopters during the national strike in Colombia (PBI-Canada, May 5, 2022).
