Norte, 30 years old, Bogotá.

Photo: Norte in Bogota.

Since the beginning of the uprising on April 28 in Colombia. Groups of fighters have been organized all over the country. The Primera Línea. They have their faces hidden by hoods or t-shirts and are protected by gas masks, goggles or even construction helmets. They are the ones who confront the police directly every day, who organize the resistance. They are the ones who lead the dance of the demonstrations. They are the ones that the people thank for their courage to go to the wall, without fear.

They call me "Norte". I am a fighter of the Primera Línea de Portal Resistencia in Bogotá. I fight for social change, for equal privileges for all Colombians, for a dignified health system, for better education, for police reform, for the dismantling of the mobile riot squad (Esmad), among other causes.

For years in Colombia, the government has neglected the poorest populations. In the big cities, social inequalities are notorious.

Today, because of the tax reform announced by the Minister of Finance, the population took to the streets. They protested against this reform which is unacceptable to the Colombian people.

Photo: May 28 2021, Bogota, Norte.

We ask and demand that the public forces respect the population. I demand equal opportunities for all Colombians, free and quality education. I demand to be able to go out in the streets to show my discontent, blocking the main roads and

I demand to be able to go out in the streets to show my discontent, blocking the main roads and affecting mobility in order to be heard by the government.

Despite appearances, we do not seek confrontation. We are only defending ourselves against police and state repression.

The critical spirit of young people is growing stronger and social inequality is so notorious that people have taken to the streets to say enough is enough.

I am an actor of La Primea Linea. It is important because it allows us to defend the people whose right to demonstrate is not respected. The public forces attack with violence the demonstrators who peacefully exercise this right. The function of the front line is to send back the tear gas fired by the police to drown the people and to stop with the shields the shots of the stun guns. We defend the demonstrations at all costs because their reaction is excessive. The armed forces are shooting at the population in total violation of human rights. Their actions are excessively violent and there is no control over them.

Photo: May 29, at the monument of the Heroes of Bogota, Norte

We want a more human Colombia.

But the people have woken up and the generations have changed. The critical spirit of young people is growing stronger and social inequality is so notorious that people have taken to the streets to say enough is enough.

In the first month of the strike, we managed to reverse the tax reform, change the health reform, get the abolition of university tuition fees, get the resignation of the Minister of Finance and, above all, make the government listen to us and make them aware of our demands.

We want a Colombia led by student movements that care about the people, that the decisions made are approved by the people and for their own good. We want a more human Colombia.

I want to add that in Colombia we are being killed. Our young demonstrators and social leaders are being violently murdered by the government and the security forces in alliance with the paramilitary. We mourn the hundreds of people who have disappeared and been found dismembered floating in the rivers of our country. We have no guarantee of life. They kill us for demanding our rights.