A journey around the world with the history of the cacerolazo

Since April 28, Colombia has been embroiled in widespread protests which began in response to controversial fiscal reforms proposed by the government of President Iván Duque but have continued even after the withdrawal of the reforms due to the government’s brutally violent response to the protesters. Despite protests being primarily peaceful, there have been at least 26 deaths and hundreds of injuries so far. The Atlantic has a photo series on these protests. Latin American communities have a long history of making their voices heard in many different forms of protest, including a type called cacerolazo. This form of protest, which is traced back to 19th century France, involves protesters making noise on common household items like pots and pans and is a popular and accessible way to draw attention to an issue that has been used in many Latin American social movements including those in Colombia.