Nicol Vanegas Current Change Event Since April 28 and today May the 4th, 18 civilians and 1 police officer have died and hundreds of people have been injured in Colombia. The violence has started in an attempt to control the massive protests that were happening against the proposal of a new tax reform from the president of the country, Ivan Duque. This tax reform was intended to be created to help those who are in need because of the pandemic by racing and applying taxes of 19% in public services, internet bill, funeral services, gasoline, computers and cellphones and other everyday goods. With this Tax Reform, colombian people will have to watch how poverty, unemployment and inequality rise more than they already have because of covid 19 (Turkewitz, 2021). The violence in the last week has incremented due to police abuse and excessive use of force from the military forces. This Social issue can be explained from the perspective of the functionalist theory and the conflict theory. On one hand, functionalism “covers all aspects of a society—institutions, roles, norms, etc.—serve a purpose and that all are indispensable for the long-term survival of the society”(Britannica, 2008) From this perspective, each part helps to keep society stable and in its own equilibrium, so when one institution is not functioning as it should, social issues arise. In Colombia, the primary role of government is not being met since in order to maintain the order, they are not honoring or guaranteeing fundamental human rights such as the right to life, liberty, and property of the people. The Conflict theory talks about a “society is in a state of perpetual conflict because of competition for limited resources.” (Hayes, 2020) In this theory, Marx talks about the economic inequality between the working class and the bourgeoisie, where the first is exploited by the second with domination and power. When the working class realizes this, is when social change occurs. In Colombia, more than 13,073,000 people is living in poverty (Davalos, 2020) , while the government is using their resources to buy their own houses or to pay Colombia’s 268 members of congress a salary of nearly COP$28 million – approximately 41 minimum wages (Sharkey, 2016). With the tax reform the government was trying to take more money from the working class rather than having other alternatives. I think that the conflict theory is better fit when viewing this change event because the government's only responsibility is not only to respect our right to life, but to fight poverty and improve the lives of its people. It is clear that the Government in Colombia keeps trying to exploit the working class by approving new laws and reforms, while they keep living a luxurious life. It is also obvious that the people of colombia have been struggling with the pandemic and that improving their cost of living will not solve the problem, it will increase it. References Colombia protests: UN 'deeply alarmed' by bloodshed in Cali. (2021). Retrieved 5 May 2021, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-56983865 Daniels, J. (2021). UN condemns violent repression of Colombia protests after at least 18 die. Retrieved 5 May 2021, from https://www.theguardian.com/globaldevelopment/2021/may/04/colombia-protests-violence-deaths-missing-un Turkewitz, J. (2021). In Colombia, 19 Are Killed in Pandemic-Related Protests. Retrieved 4 May 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/03/world/americas/colombia-protest-deaths.html Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2008, October 15). Functionalism. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/functionalism-social-science Hayes, A. (2020). Conflict Theory Definition. Retrieved 6 May 2021, from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/conflict-theory.asp Sharkey, L. (2016). Members of congress receive $28m pesos a month. Retrieved 6 May 2021, from https://thebogotapost.com/members-of-congress-receive-28m-pesos-a-month/18954/ Davalos, M. (2020). Poverty & Equity Brief in Latin America & the Caribbean. Retrieved 6 May 2021, from https://databank.worldbank.org/data/download/poverty/987B9C90-CB9F-4D93AE8C-750588BF00QA/SM2020/Global_POVEQ_COL.pdf
