Clashes have erupted between thousands of student-led protesters and security forces on the outskirts of Bogota's El Dorado International Airport.
Flights have not been canceled, but passengers were forced to walk to the airport from nearby hotels to get past throngs of marchers early this morning.
Anti-riot police known as Esmad are using tear gas to try to divert the protesters away from the airport. In the historic center of Bogota, thousands of marchers are gathered peacefully under a steady rain in Bolivar Plaza.
Elsewhere in Colombia, vandalism and looting in the southwest city of Cali prompted the city's mayor to declare a curfew at 7pm ET this evening.
The nationwide strike and marches were mostly peaceful early today amid a heavy police and military presence across the oil-producing country.
The center-right government of President Ivan Duque is walking a fine line between encouraging peaceful protest and maintaining public order. The government and local businesses fear sustained unrest of the kind that has plagued Chile since mid-October. Many schools and businesses across Colombia are closed today.
The protests are driven by a host of demands, including education, public health services and indigenous rights. The government has said that earlier demands to roll back labor and pension reform initiatives are groundless because no such reforms have been formally proposed.
By Patricia Garip
