No irregularities during protests: Govt

Colombia’s Interior and Justice Minister said Thursday that marches against a proposed education reform took place without irregularities.

“Today they behaved exemplary. The march ended without any incident we should regret. I believe the marches fulfilled their purposes, without violence, without anything to regret,” Minister German Vargas Lleras told press.

“The government isn’t upset or bothered by protest or expressions of this nature, always and when they are carried out peacefully and no abnormal situations occur. I am grateful to the union leaders that have contributed to avoiding vandalism and violence,” the Minister said.

Thousands of Colombian students, teachers and union members took to the streets of the country’s major cities to protest government proposals to privatize parts of public education.

Colombia’s intelligence agency DAS had warned beforehand that leftist guerrilla groups like the FARC and ELN were infiltrating the protests — the first since President Juan Manuel Santos took office — and were going to try to disrupt the protests.