Demonstrators have been partly inspired by similar disquiet across South America.
Students, women’s activists and indigenous people marched through the centre of Colombia’s capital on Monday in a fifth day of protests against the government of conservative President Ivan Duque.
The demonstration was initially meant to commemorate the International Day of Nonviolence Against Women but soon became an anti-government rally, with protesters venting their frustration over issues including corruption, economic inequality and violence in rural areas.
Colombia has been rattled by protests since Thursday, when an estimated 250,000 people took to the streets amid a strike organised by unions, student groups and indigenous bodies.
The protest was the largest Colombia had seen in years, and was followed by dozens of smaller demonstrations as well as riots that resulted in the deaths of three people and prompted authorities to impose a curfew in Bogota for the first time since 1977.
The unrest comes after mass anti-government demonstrations erupted in Ecuador, Bolivia and Chile. Those outbursts caused leaders in Ecuador and Chile to propose changes in economic policies and forced Bolivia’s president to resign.
Some Colombian protesters say they have been inspired by the events elsewhere in the region.
“The people have awoken,” said Julio Pardo, a social sciences teacher who attended Monday’s march in Bogota. “We will no longer allow our leaders to humiliate us.”
In response to the growing unrest, Colombia’s president launched a “national dialogue” Sunday to address such issues as rural violence, environmental policy and “growth with equity”.
Mr Duque met with recently elected governors and mayors Sunday night and held talks with business leaders and some unions Monday.
He also invited the National Strike Committee, a steering group that jump-started the protests to talks on Tuesday. But its leaders said Mr Duque had only offered to spend one hour with the group, and they refused to attend.
