STRIKES and protests were set to continue in Colombia yesterday after talks between union leaders and President Ivan Duque’s administration proved fruitless.

Thousands have taken to the streets as part of a week of action including marches, sit-ins and a demonstration held at El Dorado International Airport in Bogota on Monday.

Pictures from the airport yesterday morning showed police and army personnel barricading the entrance in fear of more peaceful protests.

Unions have led the action against Mr Duque’s proposed neoliberal reform package, which includes a rise in the pension age and a cut to the minimum wage for young people.

They are also angered over his handling of the peace process with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), as hundreds of social activists and former Farc members have been killed since he came to power in August 2018.

Unions plan to disrupt Congress’s vote on the tax reforms by banging pots and pans. They will also stage a sit-in protest when negotiations over the new minimum wage take place.

Central Union of Workers president Diogenes Orjuela said: “I repeat, the strike has organisation and direction throughout the country, objectives that represent millions of Colombians and a massive, peaceful and creative line of action.”