SCULPTOR John Fitzgerald has vowed to “raise the voice of Colombia” after sewing his mouth shut in a hunger strike over poverty and rising rape, violence and killing in the country.

The artist started his protest on Thursday and remains camped in a white tent in central Bogota.

He said that despite the fact many people in Colombia have died from coronavirus and others have gone bankrupt because of the pandemic, there are people who “do not lose faith” in their beliefs and that he would not either.

“What I am doing is for art, for the people,” he said, adding that “a career as an artist does not come with a pension plan” that allows them to live with dignity.

Mr Fitzgerald is also protesting against violence in Colombia, which has escalated despite a fragile peace agreement signed between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) in 2016.

Many former guerilla fighters and social-movement leaders have been massacred since right-wing President Ivan Duque came to power in 2018.

At least 43 people have been killed in Arauca, Antioquia, Narino, Cauca, Norte de Santander and Valle del Cauca as a new wave of violence grips the country.