 I am Samedha and you're watching Around the World in 8 Minutes. The story we take you to Columbia where a national strike was observed by hundreds of thousands of workers, teachers, students, doctors, pensioners, peasants, indigenous and afro-descendant peoples in the defence of life, land and democracy and in opposition to the neoliberal and extractive policies of the right-wing government led by President Ivan Duke. The protesters demanded that the current government respect the peace agreements signed between the former government of Yan Manuel Santos and the former guerrilla group, revolutionary armed forces of Columbia. They also opposed the national development plan proposed by Ivan Duke's government. The national development plan is based on the recommendations by the International Monetary Front proposing economic development on the basis of extraction of natural resources. It also includes reforms that are against peasants, workers and other social sectors of the society. Trade unions, teachers and students took to the streets with their demand for an increased budget for education that guarantees free education, food and transportation for all. Doctors demonstrated to draw attention to the crisis in the healthcare sector with respect to the healthcare professionals as well as patients. Pensioners mobilized to demand a better pension and retirement plans. The Colombian peasantry also came together to demand policies that benefit the sector and to demand an end of the agro-industrial model. Social and human rights activists mobilized and condemned the increasing assassination of social leaders and indigenous and afro-descendant communities. They also demanded that the government take measures to guarantee security to social leaders and to resume peace negotiations with the National Liberation Army to ensure stable and lasting peace in the country. The call for the national strike was given by around 190 social movements, trade unions, political parties and indigenous and afro-descendant organizations. In response to the strikes, the government had deployed 20,000 police troops throughout the country and over 3,000 in Bogota. Several incidents of violent police repression were also reported in Bogota and in the department of Antiquia and Bolivar. Police officials pushed people and threw tear gas that affected thousands of demonstrators in the Plaza de Bolivia in Bogota. In addition, the National Army and the police also tried to obstruct the mobilization in the North Santander. The mobilization in Colombia finds resonance in the kind of mobilization that have taken place in London, UK, Buenos Aires, Argentina and Venezuela. For our second story, we go to the United States where activists in the capital city Washington DC have been on a sit-in inside the Venezuelan embassy for almost three weeks now. They are protecting the embassy from a possible occupation by the Venezuelan opposition forces which have been led by the self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido. This group of activists called the Embassy Protection Collective is being led by the rights groups Code Pink and Popular Resistance. In their efforts to protect the embassy, they have been campaigning and reaching out to people asking them to join in. The Collective has been organizing regular events inside the embassy and has also put up anti-imperialist art and banners. The activists are residing in the embassy 24-7 with the permission of democratically elected legitimate Venezuelan government led by Nicolas Maduro. The embassy was closed in January after Maduro was pulled out all Venezuelan diplomats in response to the U.S. recognizing Guaido as the president. However, even under the strained relations, the United States cannot forcibly enter the premises of the Venezuelan embassy without securing permission from the Venezuelan government as per the international law. The Vienna Convention says that even in the case where diplomatic relations between two countries break down, embassy premises must be respected. The U.S. is continuing its attempts to overthrow the Maduro government which is recognized by the United Nations and most of the world and replace it with a puppet regime which is being led by Guaido. However, Guaido remains unpopular back in Venezuela as the citizens have been successfully resisting the coup attempts. Taking control of the Venezuelan embassy to Guaido's appointed officials is another attempt by the U.S. to hand over additional powers to him. However, activists inside the embassy have made it clear that they are willing to risk arrest in order to protect the embassy premises for Venezuelans and they are ready to stay there for as long as it takes two nations to reach an agreement that protects the diplomatic property. Lastly, we take you to another protest in the U.S. where students of the Johns Hopkins University are protesting the university's association with the anti-refugee force ICE which is the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. These protests have entered their fourth week on April 23rd. The students are also expressing their anger at the university administration for proposing to deploy a private police force with jurisdiction within and around the campuses. The students are demanding that the university withdraw all contracts with the ICE and abandon plans to constitute a private police. They are also demanding that the university pledge the amount received in profits with ICE contracts to the Baltimore Immigration Defense Fund. The Legal Defense Fund was set up by the city administration of Baltimore in March 2018 to aid refugees who are victims of the Trump administration's crackdown. Other demands include the recognition of workers' unionization in the university as well as the inclusion of student and faculty on the university's Board of Trustees. The protests have been going on since July 2018 when JHU was set to renew the contracts of ICE with its constituent faculties, the School of Medicine and the School of Education. The contracts provide various training programs and certificate courses for law enforcement officers including those of ICE. The School of Medicine has been associated with ICE since 2004. The university administration makes millions of dollars through these contracts. According to the University Gazette, when the School of Education signed a contract with the IC in 2009, it received a total of about 11.4 million dollars. This is just the tip of the iceberg with regard to JHU's involvement in military and industrial complex, said an op-ed which was written by three current and former students in the Baltimore Sun. According to a wise news list of the most militarized universities in the US, JHU is among the top defense contractors in the country. That's all that we have for you today on this episode of Around the World in 8 Minutes. For more such stories and videos, do visit our website peoplesdispatch.org and follow us on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Thank you for watching.