Sawt Falasteen - 'Out, Petro!" Thousands march against Colombian president

"Out, Petro!" read banners held aloft by protesters in Bogota as they waved the Colombian flag.

"Insecurity is everywhere, in the countryside and in the cities. The people are tired," protester Luis Chaparro, a retired soldier, told AFP.

"We are in the middle of two threats: violence and criminals on the one side, and the absolute ineptitude of the government of Gustavo Petro on the other," added Miguel Uribe, an opposition senator and march organizer.

There were also marches in Cali, Medellin, Barranquilla, Bucaramanga and other cities.

Petro, Colombia's first-ever leftist president, enjoys only about 35 percent support, according to opinion polls.

His government has been negotiating with armed groups that have continued fighting despite the disarmament of the FARC, a major guerrilla force, following a 2016 peace deal.

There have been frequent violations of successive ceasefire agreements, with civilians -- particularly in rural areas -- getting caught up in the fighting between leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitary groups, drug cartels and the military.

Protesters were also critical of Petro's proposed reforms to the pension and healthcare systems, where he wants to curb reliance on private funds.

Many fear this would leave too much of Colombians' hard-earned savings in the hands of a public service with a long history of corruption.

His attempts to expand worker benefits, too, are widely rejected as wasteful public spending in a country historically distrustful of the political left and of state institutions.

Petro has struggled to get his reforms through parliament, where he does not have a majority.

Opponents of the president also accuse him of making too many concessions to armed groups in his stated quest to finally achieve "total peace" in the violence-battered country.

Petro on Wednesday accused protesters of being in cahoots with establishment "forces" seeking to hold on to their "privileges."

N.Awad--SF-PST