This was certainly not the first national strike in Ecuador, nor was it the first time that Ecuadorians have protested against the neoliberal economic policies that have historically disenfranchised the country’s indigenous and impoverished communities. The willingness to shut down Ecuadorian society as an act of protest, despite the subsequent harsh economic repercussions of such mass mobilization, illuminates the fervent desperation of the indigenous communities and other social groups within Ecuador as well as people’s desire for drastic political, social, and economic change.

As Colombia prepares for elections that have the potential to shift the country’s direction significantly, a look back at the country’s 2021 general strike provides a useful window into the forces that have led the country to this point. In particular, a critical analysis of establishment media coverage of the strike reveals the continuing role of dominant institutions in seeking to extend the status quo and undermine the people’s desire for peace and justice after decades of structural violence, dislocation, and corruption.

As the presidential elections and a glimpse of change approach, Colombians keep rising to disclose the numerous human rights violations and other abusive realities that the current administration has caused. In order to make sense of what is happening on the ground at the moment, however, we need to look back at the national strike that shook the country in 2021.