Tens of thousands of people gathered in Bogota, Colombia on Wednesday to express their support for the labor and healthcare reforms put forward by President Gustavo Petro.

Tens of thousands marched in Columbia in support of the reforms, while the President delivered a speech in defense of the social reforms. In terms of the health care reform, he stated that healthcare could not be a business. Moreover, he criticized that a few bankers made pensions a business. The next day, former president Álvaro Uribe Vélez responded, stating that the reform is not conducive to job creation and foreign investment and will affect young people adversely.

The demonstration was in some ways a reponse to actions by the opposition on April 21, when about 250,000 Colombians marched in multiple cities across Columbia, including Bogota and Medellin, to protest against Petro’s reforms. On April 26, Gustavo Petro called on citizens to take to the streets and show their support for the proposed reforms, which he stated aimed at fostering equality, democracy, and peace. Celso Tete Crespo, a political activist, stated that participating in the march would signify endorsing significant transformations for the nation.

Article 37 of the Political Constitution of Colombia of 1991 stipulates that people can gather and demonstrate publicly and peacefully and that only the law may expressly establish the cases in which the exercise of this right may be limited.