Bogota: Police clashed Friday with masked and hooded anti-fascism protesters who threw stones and broke windows at a hotel hosting a meeting of far-right political groups from Spain and Latin America.
The meeting of representatives of Spain’s Vox party and far-right groups from Colombia, Peru, Cuba, Venezuela, and Chile, attracted about 100 leftwing protesters with anti-fascist banners. They threw stones and trash cans at the hotel hosting the so-called “Madrid Forum”, hitting the shields of riot police posted outside, and breaking windows.
Police responded with stun grenades, arresting several protesters.
“They are the Nazis,” shouted a young man in the crowd, referring to those attending the meeting.
Vox member Victor Gonzalez, a Spanish MP, told AFP the protesters were supporters of a “new communism.” One of the stated topics for the Madrid Forum was exactly to “fight against communism” in Latin America, he added.
Elections are due this year in Colombia and Brazil, with leftwing parties expected to do well in both among voters fed up with incumbents from the right of the political spectrum.
