Thousands in Columbia protest reforms by leftist President Gustavo Petro

Thousands of anti-government protesters marched across the Columbia’s largest cities to voice their opposition to the leftist President Gustavo Petro’s administration’s push for economic and social reform.

The rallies were in response to marches held by Petro earlier this month, in which he asked Congress to adopt his proposed reforms.

Opponents to Petro’s pension reforms argue they could negatively impact Colombia’s finances and hurt job creation.

A crowd of some 5,000 people marched through capital Bogota on Tuesday according to local authorities, where some protesters carried banners emblazoned with slogans such as “No more Petro” and “Petro out.”

Peaceful protests also took place in cities including Medellin, Cali, Barranquilla and Bucaramanga, according to police.

“Protecting them is our top priority in order to ensure that no protester suffers harm. At a police ceremony earlier on Tuesday, Petro stated, “That’s the expression of the spirit of democracy, that people can express what they want, against the same administration without anything untoward happening.

Petro, who took office last August as Colombia’s first left-wing president, won election on promises to cut poverty and inequality and also roll out a policy of “total peace” to end the country’s almost six decades of armed conflict which has killed at least 450,000 people.

Petro is facing an uphill battle in Congress to push labor, health, and pension reforms after his majority coalition disintegrated due to the government’s refusal to make changes to the proposals.

He has recently been caught up in a scandal over accusations of alleged illegal financing during his election campaign, which he denies.