Colombia protests: What is behind unrest?

[Ringo Stalin]

Why Colombia's protests are unlikely to fizzle out

The government has agreed to hold talks with protest leaders but divisions run deep.

www.bbc.com

In Colombia, people's protests are severely suppressed. 19 people have already been killed, and more than 80 are missing.

The Western media has been selectively blinded to the brutality of the Colombian regime. As usual.

 

[VanceMack]

Another Country where leftist ****s are stirring up unrest hoping to bring about commie revolutions. Because they are too ****ing stupid to study history and see what happens.

You know...just like the idiot leftists in THIS country begging for communism.

 

[iguanaman]

Another Country where leftist ****s are stirring up unrest hoping to bring about commie revolutions. Because they are too ****ing stupid to study history and see what happens.

You know...just like the idiot leftists in THIS country begging for communism.

The protests were against a new tax schedule that would lower the income that is taxed. Raising taxes on the poorest is not how you increase revenue. Shame on the govt. for even proposing such a measure. We send millions in aid to Columbia every year. That needs to be reexamined.

 

[Alizia Tyler]

In Colombia, people's protests are severely suppressed. 19 people have already been killed, and more than 80 are missing.

Ask me, I live here.

People have been under enormous strain because the pandemic affected the economy. Large sectors of the population depend on the money they make often that very day (in the informal economy). The economic situation in Colombia had been progressing for 10 years largely because of the adherence to the *American model*. Had you visited Colombia 10+ years ago, my Heavens, you'd have seen a very different world.

But there was, of course, all sorts of different social problems I don't mean to minimize them. And lots and lots of extraordinary corruption in government.

But the pandemic did great harm to the poorest people, naturally. And it set things back many years.

The government unveiled a new tax plan in order to get access to needed funds. The plan involved more taxation on the upper sectors of the economy to help make up the deficits. And in order to fund the subsidies for the poorer sectors. It was not well received. And it led to civil unrest and protest, also looting, burning, and that sort of thing.

The general consensus, if you will, is that the anger and frustration is justified, but there should be *firmness against anarchy* and the sort of senseless destruction that goes on when people unleash themselves in mobs.

So, no, the right to protest is not suppressed. It is when the mobs start destroying things, looting supermarkets, setting things on fire that the police are instructed, logically, to take action.

 

[Evilroddy]

It started as a tax reform (grab) which triggered a revolt by workers and the middle-class, but has since ballooned into a much wider attack on the elitism of Colombian Government policy and as a violent reaction to police and army brutality especially in Colombia's largest three cities. In those cities Colombian police and army personnel have been disguising themselves before firing into crowds and before "disappearing" people off the streets. The Duque-Marquez Government has backed down from the tax grab but now the frustrations driving unionised workers and the middle-class have taken on a life of their own. Their goal is to humble or topple the powerful elites who have been bleeding them dry for years. The global pandemic has caused strains and inflamed tempers in Colombia too.

Cheers and be well.
Evilroddy.

 

[Alizia Tyler]

Raising taxes on the poorest is not how you increase revenue.

Actually, shame on you for repeating what is not true! The taxes were to have been applied to the upper stratas through different applied taxes. Middle class and upper middle class would be the US correspondence.

The poor classes receive all sorts of subsidies through the taxes and added fees they (the upper strata) pays. The lower strata produce little wealth, pay virtually no taxes, and have utility subsidies and other subsidies that are paid for by the productive classes (who are in the formal economy).

For example where we live is Strata 6+ -- the highest strata. But then there is Strata 5, 4, 3, 2 and tecnically strata 1. If you live in a lower strata area you pay a great deal less for utilities, taxe on property, etc.

 

[Alizia Tyler]

It started as a tax reform (grab) which triggered a revolt by workers and the middle-class, but has since ballooned into a much wider attack on the elitism of Colombian Government policy and as a violent reaction to police and army brutality especially in Colombia's largest three cities. In those cities Colombian police and army personnel have been disguising themselves before firing into crowds and before "disappearing" people off the streets. The Duque-Marquez Government has backed down from the tax grab but now the frustrations driving unionised workers and the middle-class have taken on a life of their own. Their goal is to humble or topple the powerful elites who have been bleeding them dry for years. The global pandemic has caused strains and inflamed tempers in Colombia too.

This is a nice example of a 'projection' through Left-Progressive interpretive lenses. It has elements of truth however, but is not the full truth.

 

[iguanaman]

Actually, shame on you for repeating what is not true! The taxes were to have been applied to the upper stratas through different applied taxes. Middle class and upper middle class would be the US correspondence.

The poor classes receive all sorts of subsidies through the taxes and added fees they (the upper strata) pays. The lower strata produce little wealth, pay virtually no taxes, and have utility subsidies and other subsidies that are paid for by the productive classes (who are in the formal economy).

For example where we live is Strata 6+ -- the highest strata. But then there is Strata 5, 4, 3, 2 and tecnically strata 1. If you live in a lower strata area you pay a great deal less for utilities, taxe on property, etc.

I have no doubt which "Strata" you belong to. I will repeat, taxing the poor is never the way to raise revenue. Taxing those that spend all they make in the economy is self defeating because every dime you tax away comes straight out of the GDP as reduced consumer spending. It is a losing proposition every time. BTW an income of $684 a MONTH is not middle class.

The rallies were organised by the biggest trade unions, but were also joined by many middle-class people who feared the changes could see them slip into poverty. Almost half of the country's population now lives in poverty, with inequalities exacerbated by the pandemic.
The proposal would have lowered the threshold at which salaries are taxed, affecting anyone with a monthly income of 2.6m pesos ($684; £493) or more. It would also have eliminated many of the current exemptions enjoyed by individuals, as well as increasing taxes imposed on businesses.

 

[Evilroddy]

This is a nice example of a 'projection' through Left-Progressive interpretive lenses. It has elements of truth however, but is not the full truth.

Alizia Tyler:

So what needs changing or expanding upon? Point out my misrepresentations or omissions please.

The Colombian military has been the most brutal and dishonest military in South America for about thirty years now. Tens of thousands of dissidents and innocent peasants killed and dressed up like insurgent militants to pump up counter insurgency death tolls for profit. Assassinations galore after the peace with FARC. The elites are trying to solve the country's debt and fiscal crisis on the backs of those who can least afford it, rather than tapping into their own vast resources in order to fix the problem they created. Too much of the Colombian working class lives a hand to mouth existence despite the the recent wave of prosperity which Colombia enjoyed from 2005-2015 or so.

No, this is the result of the elites' abuse of the working poor and the struggling middle class, the brutality and dishonesty of Colombia's police and army and the absolute greed of the ruling elites, bolstered up by American Libertarian think-tanks, American Government foreign policy and American military aid.

Prove that my analysis is wrong.

Cheers and be well.
Evilroddy.

 

[Alizia Tyler]

I will repeat, taxing the poor is never the way to raise revenue.

The tax was to be directed not to the poor but to those in the productive economy. Those with formal not informal income.

Stratas 4, 5 and 6 are where the taxes were to be directed.

Not to 1, 2 and 3.

 

[Alizia Tyler]

So what needs changing or expanding upon? Point out my misrepresentations or omissions please.

I can do that . . .

The Colombian military has been the most brutal and dishonest military in South America for about thirty years now

The Colombian state was just a few years back right on the verge of collapse. The Colombian state had become, for various reasons, nearly a failed state. There were whole regions that were *autonomous* and outside of the control of the state.

In the course of recovering control, and asserting government and state power over these regions and over the FARC and other groups, military power and the use of force is necessary. This is a form of war obviously and, yes, it has been going on. But the opposing forces are similarly 'brutal' as you say. So that has to be included in any mention of State violence and assertion of power.

What has been done in Colombia over the last 15 years has been little short of a complete restructuring. With the *peace* and with the possibility of growing an economy the conditions of huge sectors of the population improved. Youths have been able to go to university and those that can't get into university have gotten trade-school education to become electricians, cooks, mechanics. The progress, let me tell you, has been extraordinary.

This does not diminish the existence of corruption and a whole range of social problems.

Tens of thousands of dissidents and innocent peasants killed and dressed up like insurgent militants to pump up counter insurgency death tolls for profit.

There definitely have been lots of 'false-positives': people identified as insurgents who were not, or who were said not to be. This is a fact. But I refer back to the weak state, the nature of the problem of lawlessness and rebellion. No matter how you look at things Colombia is a very very imperfect place.

However, the majority of people support the on-going process of transforming the country, and the progress had been, by any standard, tremendous and impressive. The guerrilla sector, the FARC sector -- these could never do anything in terms of constructing an economy, except in the drug trafficking area. So, despite imperfections and blemishes, support of the State and state-building is what must be supported, while simultaneously corruption and also social injustice is fought.

But you must understand that the revolutionary alternative -- armed insurrection -- cannot be allowed or supported. Those factions had their day and for 50 years created only misery and unending conflict.

Assassinations galore after the peace with FARC.

It is as I said: a war is being waged. A low-intensity civil-conflict with regional aspects. I am sorry to report that in wars that people do get killed.

No, this is the result of the elites' abuse of the working poor and the struggling middle class, the brutality and dishonesty of Colombia's police and army and the absolute greed of the ruling elites, bolstered up by American Libertarian think-tanks, American Government foreign policy and American military aid.

Unfortunately, here in this chaos, there is mixing of intentions. And the camolfuaging of intentions. Poor people are still being *displaced* by individuals and groups who want their land. And at the same time armed gangs still prey on working people in the cities. It is a mess in many ways and hard to grasp the dynamics.

I regularly go into areas, for my own purposes and education, and see scenes that you'd hardly imagine could exist.

Too much of the Colombian working class lives a hand to mouth existence despite the the recent wave of prosperity which Colombia enjoyed from 2005-2015 or so.

But they lived far worse just a few years back. And prosperity has to be constructed over time. And the class that does this is the class with the energy and will to do it.

There has been a general improvement however. I have observed it first hand. One of the social factors that I notice is a 'poor mentality' and certain forms of apathy that, in my view, need to be challenged and addressed. People have to be schooled in wealth-building because it is not a social habit.

 

[Alizia Tyler]

[cont. from previous]

EvilRoddy wrote:

No, this is the result of the elites' abuse of the working poor and the struggling middle class, the brutality and dishonesty of Colombia's police and army and the absolute greed of the ruling elites, bolstered up by American Libertarian think-tanks, American Government foreign policy and American military aid.

This is what I mean by *seeing through Progressive-Left lenses*. You are engaging in an 'absolute vilification' based out of your specific biases. It is an intelligent, technocratic productive class that has turned the economy around, to the degree they have been able, and with great limitations. There is no other class and no other group that will do this.

The rest of what you say in this paragraph is more-or-less *standard rhetoric* of a neo-Marxist sort. That rhetoric, by those who have lived through the times when it dominated, has been rejected largely. But it still flares up and is completely unproductive. It is still quite common at the universities here but it is 'hobby activism' and also (to some degree) posturing and 'virtue signaling'.

The best way forward is in wealth-building and wealth-accumulation, education, broadening of the economy, as well as integration of the really poor classes which is always a terrific struggle.

The entirety of your *narrative* is non-productive to these ends. Sorry to point it out but this seems to me true.

 

[Evilroddy]

Alicia Tyler:

The Colombian state was just a few years back right on the verge of collapse. The Colombian state had become, for various reasons, nearly a failed state. There were whole regions that were *autonomous* and outside of the control of the state.

In the course of recovering control, and asserting government and state power over these regions and over the FARC and other groups, military power and the use of force is necessary. This is a form of war obviously and, yes, it has been going on. But the opposing forces are similarly 'brutal' as you say. So that has to be included in any mention of State violence and assertion of power.

Glossing over the deaths of hundreds of thousands in the name of accelerated prosperity is not a convincing argument. The slaughter has been going on since 1948 IIRC. Since then 460000 Colombians have been killed, the great majority being civilians, many innocent civilians. In the past 30 years 80,000 more have been disappeared and are presumed dead. Former President Uribe has been linked to drug producers, paramilitaries and death squads (the Metro Bloc) and if it wasn't for US opposition and interference in his trial process, then his evilness and murderous duplicity would be a matter of public record right now.

Leaked US Government documents show how deeply Uribe and the US Government were involved in the deaths of over a hundred thousand civilians. As bad as Uribe was, the violence under his tenure was nothing compared to the slaughter between 1848 and 1958 when an estimated 200,000 Colombians died so that the elites could maintain their power and grip on the economy. Right-wing Colombian Governments have been the major culprits in over 70 years of domestic slaughter, while less right-wing governments have tried and for the most part failed to bring peace to Colombia, because right-wing factions have done everything they could to disrupt peace negotiations in Colombia. President Duque-Marquez has already abrogated key provisions of his predecessor's peace deal and there are now reports that he, like Uribe, has links to paramilitaries and death squads carrying out the many assassinations going on since 2016.

Yes, Colombia deserves greater prosperity but it matter how the country gets there. Building affluence on the bodies of hundreds of thousands of dead Colombians, killed by their own state is not the way to do it. Also that newly created prosperity should not be concentrated into the hands of the few but must find its way into the hands of the many to make Colombia more prosperous, either by private means (investment and bursaries) or by government policy (taxation and redistribution).

Cheers and be well.
Evilroddy.

 

[Tigerace117]

Alicia Tyler:



Glossing over the deaths of hundreds of thousands in the name of accelerated prosperity is not a convincing argument. The slaughter has been going on since 1948 IIRC. Since then 460000 Colombians have been killed, the great majority being civilians, many innocent civilians. In the past 30 years 80,000 more have been disappeared and are presumed dead. Former President Uribe has been linked to drug producers, paramilitaries and death squads (the Metro Bloc) and if it wasn't for US opposition and interference in his trial process, then his evilness and murderous duplicity would be a matter of public record right now.

Leaked US Government documents show how deeply Uribe and the US Government were involved in the deaths of over a hundred thousand civilians. As bad as Uribe was, the violence under his tenure was nothing compared to the slaughter between 1848 and 1958 when an estimated 200,000 Colombians died so that the elites could maintain their power and grip on the economy. Right-wing Colombian Governments have been the major culprits in over 70 years of domestic slaughter, while less right-wing governments have tried and for the most part failed to bring peace to Colombia, because right-wing factions have done everything they could to disrupt peace negotiations in Colombia. President Duque-Marquez has already abrogated key provisions of his predecessor's peace deal and there are now reports that he, like Uribe, has links to paramilitaries and death squads carrying out the many assassinations going on since 2016.

Yes, Colombia deserves greater prosperity but it matter how the country gets there. Building affluence on the bodies of hundreds of thousands of dead Colombians, killed by their own state is not the way to do it. Also that newly created prosperity should not be concentrated into the hands of the few but must find its way into the hands of the many to make Colombia more prosperous, either by private means (investment and bursaries) or by government policy (taxation and redistribution).

Cheers and be well.
Evilroddy.

Gee, is there a reason you conveniently ignored the massive instability and bloodshed caused by groups such as FARC and ELN(not to mention anti American drug traffickers such as Pablo Escobar and Carlos Lehder)?

 

[Evilroddy]

Gee, is there a reason you conveniently ignored the massive instability and bloodshed caused by groups such as FARC and ELN(not to mention anti American drug traffickers such as Pablo Escobar and Carlos Lehder)?

Tigerace117:

The deaths are caused by both those on the right and the left. However the proportion of civilian deaths caused by the right in Colombia is far greater. ELN, FARC and M-19 were vicious guerrillas and terrorists but in the body-count they lagged far behind the government, the army and the government sponsored paramilitaries. Long before any of these Cuban or Soviet inspired groups even existed the Colombian Oligarchy was killing its opponents and terrorising its populace. So while these left-wing organisations were violent and brutal, they paled in comparison with the state sponsored killing and terrorising that has gone on in Colombia since the mid-19th Century and are thus late-comers to bloody Colombia's internal strife. The oligarchy has been there since the Spanish Conquesta, almost 500 years ago.

Cheers and thanks for trying to derail yet another thread down a pointless tangent. Also, be well.
Evilroddy.

 

[Evilroddy]

For those readers unfamiliar with Colombian history since WWII, here is a short Colombian report on the nightmare of La Violenca from 1948 -1958.



Cheers and be well.
Evilroddy.

 

[iguanaman]

It started as a tax reform (grab) which triggered a revolt by workers and the middle-class, but has since ballooned into a much wider attack on the elitism of Colombian Government policy and as a violent reaction to police and army brutality especially in Colombia's largest three cities. In those cities Colombian police and army personnel have been disguising themselves before firing into crowds and before "disappearing" people off the streets. The Duque-Marquez Government has backed down from the tax grab but now the frustrations driving unionised workers and the middle-class have taken on a life of their own. Their goal is to humble or topple the powerful elites who have been bleeding them dry for years. The global pandemic has caused strains and inflamed tempers in Colombia too.

Cheers and be well.
Evilroddy.

Yes Colombia has a real class problem and the Govt. is pretty much a "monarchy"of wealthy families. The rebels have won reforms but the system is still medieval and it is bound to cause problems. This one is just another side effect of the pandemic..they didn't send out any checks like we did that is for sure.

 

[Alizia Tyler]

For those readers unfamiliar with Colombian history

At least you spelled Colombia right.

How long did you live in Colombia and in Latin America?

That is why I said:

This is what I mean by *seeing through Progressive-Left lenses*. You are engaging in an 'absolute vilification' based out of your specific biases. It is an intelligent, technocratic productive class that has turned the economy around, to the degree they have been able, and with great limitations. There is no other class and no other group that will do this.

The rest of what you say in this paragraph is more-or-less *standard rhetoric* of a neo-Marxist sort. That rhetoric, by those who have lived through the times when it dominated, has been rejected largely. But it still flares up and is completely unproductive. It is still quite common at the universities here but it is 'hobby activism' and also (to some degree) posturing and 'virtue signaling'.

 

[Tigerace117]

Tigerace117:

The deaths are caused by both those on the right and the left. However the proportion of civilian deaths caused by the right in Colombia is far greater. ELN, FARC and M-19 were vicious guerrillas and terrorists but in the body-count they lagged far behind the government, the army and the government sponsored paramilitaries. Long before any of these Cuban or Soviet inspired groups even existed the Colombian Oligarchy was killing its opponents and terrorising its populace. So while these left-wing organisations were violent and brutal, they paled in comparison with the state sponsored killing and terrorising that has gone on in Colombia since the mid-19th Century and are thus late-comers to bloody Colombia's internal strife. The oligarchy has been there since the Spanish Conquesta, almost 500 years ago.

Cheers and thanks for trying to derail yet another thread down a pointless tangent. Also, be well.
Evilroddy.

So in other words you really don’t care about said groups, hence your attempts to whitewash their actions by claiming that the bulk of the bloodshed is the government’s fault, regardless of facts.

Not to mention your happy avoidance of the Venezuelan regime’s sponsorship of such groups ever since Hugo Chavez came to power.

Noted.

 

[Evilroddy]

Yes Colombia has a real class problem and the Govt. is pretty much a "monarchy"of wealthy families. The rebels have won reforms but the system is still medieval and it is bound to cause problems. This one is just another side effect of the pandemic..they didn't send out any checks like we did that is for sure.

Iguanaman:

Yeah. What most people don't understand is that the oligarchy is divided into conservative and liberal factions which despite their infighting and sometimes brutal repression of each other's agents and peasants always came together to protect their oligarchic interests when the infighting got out of hand. This was never really about Conservative versus Liberal values but about jockeying for power within the oligarchy which has been going on since the 1830's.

Cheers and be well.
Evilroddy.

 

[Evilroddy]

At least you spelled Colombia right.

How long did you live in Colombia and in Latin America?

That is why I said:

Alizia Tyler:

I believe I have spelled Colombia correctly from the get go, no?

I have never lived in Colombia nor lived anywhere in South America.

I believe you keep saying that I am "seeing through progressive-Left lenses" because you are seeing through conservative-Right lenses and naturally assume that anyone who disagrees with your interpretations of events must be diametrically opposed to your political leaning. I don't see South American politics through a political or ideological filter but rather from a pragmatic and historical perspective. However that pragmatism does not extend to discounting half a million Colombian deaths as a necessary foundation for economic growth and for the prosperity of the few at the expense of the many, which was at the root of the Duque-Marquez tax reform package which triggered Colombia's recent and on going civil unrest.

Cheers and be well.
Evilroddy.

 

[Evilroddy]

So in other words you really don’t care about said groups, hence your attempts to whitewash their actions by claiming that the bulk of the bloodshed is the government’s fault, regardless of facts.

Not to mention your happy avoidance of the Venezuelan regime’s sponsorship of such groups ever since Hugo Chavez came to power.

Noted.

Tigerace117:

Ah, more deflection I see. Let's see if we can derail this thread into Venezuela now, eh? Failed again old bean. Time to change your tactics. You really are very predictable and formulaic in your responses. So I'll be ignoring your attempted tangential deflections as usual.

What role did ELN, FARC or M-19 play in the Thousand Day War at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries in Columbia? None. What role did they play in the upheavals of La Violencia in 1948-1958? None. They are later-comers to this centuries long struggle between oligarchy's interests and the general populace's interests, but you just can't get your head around a struggle that isn't right-left, communist or fascist inspired or which does not jive with your own political and ideological boundaries. So you deflect, as usual, to get some ideological traction. This history is about power and greed, not ideology.

Cheers and be well.
Evilroddy.

 

[Northern Light]

The economic situation in Colombia had been progressing for 10 years largely because of the adherence to the *American model*. Had you visited Colombia 10+ years ago, my Heavens, you'd have seen a very different world.

Could you elaborate on this? I am very curious to learn more. What was Colombia like before Americanization?

This trend seems to be everywhere. Traditional local economies get replaced with American style and then everything goes to hell.

 

[TheParser]

The government unveiled a new tax plan in order to get access to needed funds. The plan involved more taxation on the upper sectors of the economy to help make up the deficits. And in order to fund the subsidies for the poorer sectors. It was not well received.

Very informative.

I am not a good reader, but I infer from your comments that it is the "upper sectors of the economy" who are behind the violence, not the "poorer sectors."

I have read that in many Latin American countries the rich decline to pay higher taxes, not necessarily because they refuse to help the poor, but they feel that their taxes will just go to corrupt politicians.

 

[Alizia Tyler]

Yes Colombia has a real class problem and the Govt. is pretty much a "monarchy"of wealthy families. The rebels have won reforms but the system is still medieval and it is bound to cause problems. This one is just another side effect of the pandemic..they didn't send out any checks like we did that is for sure.

This is worthy of a response though the analysis is somewhat shallow and tendentious. Colombia does indeed have a clique of wealthy families, but then so do all countries to one degree or another. It is true that money-power has rulership power, to varying degrees depending on the country, and of course this too is so in many other places.

You could say that 'the rebels one reforms' but that would not be accurate, or accurate enough. The rebels are a very very corrupt power-block in many senses outside and beyond civil society and they are largely hated. Not absolutely but largely. What has won reforms is the mood of the populace generally but in the process of that economic growth that has gone on over the last 15 years. People then feel more confident (one might say) advocating for their rights. Over the last 10 years, more or less, many more kids have been able to go to university and, as always, they advocate for certain reforms, and the populace generally responds.

The comment about a Medieval culture is interesting. But it needs to be clarified. While the word Medieval is an exaggeration I can say that especially to lower classes, the peasant-classes, cannot be considered to be 'mobile' (in the sense of upwardly mobile). They are often 'static' and 'stagnant' because they are, if you will, locked into another sort of time or I might say 'reality'. But at the same time they have their culture and their traditions. On the other side of the cultural scene are those *upwardly mobile* classes who are urban, urbanized, and more 'connected' to the upward-striving classes. They have, shall I say, abandoned what I am calling 'tradition' and they tend toward modernization. There is a divide between these two classes. Now, the lower classes are beginning to mobilize, but to do this they have to *uproot* themselves from their more traditional situation (often rural and semi-rural).

I suggest that it is *largely impossible* to understand the dynamics of Latin American social and cultural problems (economic problems too) if one is trying to apply a 'first world' perspective. It is easy to do and tempting, this I admit. But it has to be rejected. That is why I object to EvilRoddy who is getting his information from historical and social interpretations that are, quite obviously, Left-Progressive. I would not say that Left-Progressive perspectives are 'bad' but they are often not pragmatic, not realistic, and they do not focus on the most essential thing: wealth-creation and developing a solid economy.

They did not send out checks, that is true, but there are social programs that are funded by taxing the wealth-producing classes. It is a social policy of distributive justice. Colombia has a weak taxation-system and only over the last 10 years have businesses and persons been compelled to declare earning and to pay taxes. The lower classes are largely exempt from taxation. So one of the main areas, or a main area, of generation of income to the State is through 19% sales tax on nearly everything. It is ridiculous of course but they have to get money where money can be gotten. All bank transactions are also taxed: 4 pesos for each 1,000 pesos on each bank transaction.

But the poor classes receive subsidized utilities and have access to free healthcare which, or course, is not of the best quality and yet is surprisingly responsive. And aid to the poor and most vulnerable is provided and has been provided during the pandemic.