Curfew​—at Two P.M.!

By “Awake!” correspondent in Colombia

FRIDAY morning starts off like any other normal day in Cali, Colombia.

You get off the bus in downtown Cali. You walk toward your office, half conscious of the gantlet of lottery-ticket vendors. There is the usual flow of people through the Plaza de Cayzedo at the city’s commercial center.

But you notice that the signs placed in the plaza yesterday are all gone. What signs? Those put there by demonstrating university students demanding the resignation of the rector and the end of outside interference in the university.

“Stay Home!”

The morning passes normally. At noon you head for home, looking forward to your two hours to lunch and nap. Why bother to turn on the radio?

Siesta over, 1:30 p.m. arrives and you are ready to head back to work. The phone rings. A friend, his voice high-pitched with tension, cries: “Stay home this afternoon! A student has been killed! There is going to be a curfew at two!” “Two in the morning?” you ask naïvely. “No, no! at two p.m. In half an hour. Better stay home!”

You are still not too impressed, because you haven’t seen anything happen yourself. But you go to look out your apartment window overlooking a main traffic artery leading downtown. Sure enough, all the traffic is going in one direction​—away from town!

Now you turn on the radio. It is true. A city-wide curfew at two p.m. Your complacency finally shattered, you become fully alert and start to plan for your immediate future.

You know that during curfew you may not leave your home. You check the food supply, run to the neighborhood store and buy some batteries for the radio and flashlight, some candles and some food items. Now you start to think about what is happening to more than 800,000 people in the city.

As the world system now operates, a relatively few people can make a profound impact on vast numbers. The authorities are well aware of this.

With many university students and professors agitating for changes, and classes being interrupted, the police heavily patrol the areas surrounding the major university. Students challenge and bait the police. A confrontation between them takes place. Tear gas is used. A student dies!

The shedding of blood lights the flames of passion and violence. Tempers flare. Anger spreads like the waves from a rock thrown into a pool. Rumors run wild. Many persons will die before calm is restored, although possibly some of these are not the direct result of the disorders.

Getting Home, a Problem

The task of returning the population of a whole city to their homes is prodigious. Many had already begun returning to work or had not gone home during the noon hour.

To complicate the situation, the taxis and buses quite naturally head for their garages and parking areas. Only those that happen to be going in the same direction as the outflow of people are carrying passengers. These are so packed that the proverbial sardine would feel crowded.

People who cannot get inside the vehicles cling outside wherever they can get a handhold or toehold. Many truck drivers mercifully allow people to fill up their vehicles.

Many thousands must walk miles to reach home. Construction workers on projects outside of town walk ten to twelve miles. Some have to skirt the main trouble area, adding to the distance. Finally they arrive home, much to the relief of their anxious families.

Hour after hour the procession continues. In theory anyone on the street after curfew without a safe-conduct pass must be arrested. But the people have not had sufficient advance warning. They need time to get home, so the police and soldiers give them consideration.

After 6 p.m. the flow of humanity subsides. Finally the streets are deserted except for an occasional official or essential service vehicle. All seems calm and peaceful and deserted, until an ambulance and a truckload of military police speed toward town. This reminds you that somewhere in the city not all is peace and calm.

Also, many families will be reminded in another way. They will face food shortages as they approach the end of the pay period with neither food nor funds in the house.

Curfew Enforced

Now the enforcement of the curfew begins in earnest. Anyone on the streets is picked up. The first night hundreds violate curfew and are detained.

That the jails will not hold all the violators has been foreseen. The detained are taken to the football stadium or the bullfighting arena to remain until curfew is lifted. A night in the open air with only the clothing one has on against the cool and the mosquitoes is viewed as adequate persuasion against future violations.

Saturday morning. The curfew remains in effect and all are advised to remain in their homes. The center of the city remains desolate except for the patrols of the military.

Saturday, 1 p.m. Announcement comes over the radio stating that the curfew will be lifted between the hours of 1:30 and 7:00 p.m. At 1:30 there is a fever of activity as many take advantage of the brief liberty to obtain food and other supplies to tide them over until normal activity can be resumed.

As the restoration of order begins to be assured, it is announced that the curfew will be lifted Sunday at 7 a.m. and be in effect once more at 7 p.m.

Meanwhile, groups in other parts of the country try to cause a general commotion. The national authorities take swift measures to maintain the stability of the nation. The public order is declared disturbed and a state of siege, or martial law, is declared.

Among aspects of martial law are censorship of radio and newspapers, prohibition of the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages, prohibition of gatherings of more than five persons in the street, and requirement of a permit from the local military authorities before any public meeting can be held. Religious meetings inside buildings are tolerated by the authorities and, of course, these are held at hours not conflicting with the curfew.

Return to Normal

From Monday through Wednesday the curfew remains in effect during the hours of 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. Gradually, life begins to return to normal.

Most businesses establish a straight shift, eliminating the two-hour lunch break. In this way employees can work eight hours and still get home before the curfew. Even so, there is a scramble from 6 to 7 p.m., as many who get off work at 6 p.m. struggle to make use of the dwindling public transportation whose drivers also must be home before curfew.

During the day, activity downtown is bustling as ever. The only difference is the large number of soldiers and police who are patrolling. They are largely ignored. People are mostly grateful for some assurance of tranquillity.

Sporadic attempts by university students to reignite the flames of conflict are quickly put down. Soon the squads of soldiers in the Plaza de Cayzedo, with their guns at the ready, are steadily reduced in numbers and in the length of their stay.

Finally, order and calm are restored. The curfew is removed and the city returns to normal. The fact that martial law is still in effect is scarcely noticed, as its restrictions are not applied against the normal everyday activity of the people.

Reactions Mixed

Reactions to the curfew are mixed. At first, some were grateful to have an excuse to stay home and relax in the evenings. Others felt confined and frustrated.

Initially, separated families unable to communicate with stranded members suffered great anxiety. When they were reunited, wives were delighted by their husbands’ devotion to home and family during the evening hours.

Businessmen rued the loss of income. Accountants fretted over the approaching income-tax deadline. But the relief at the lifting of the curfew was universal because it meant a return to normal and the reasonable security of one’s person and property.

Yet, these events in Cali remind one how fragile is this ‘normalcy’ and ‘security’ in today’s world. Especially is this evident when one sees how affairs involving a few people can result in upset for an entire city, yes, an entire country.

In view of all this, one can only reflect on the great need for the permanent government for all the earth about which Jesus Christ taught his followers. This is God’s kingdom. It alone can and will bring true justice, prosperity and tranquillity permanently to those who love Him.​—Ps. 37:10, 11.