At Bogota, thousands of workers and students threw stones at police and chanted slogans like "Clinton, Go Back!" and "US Intervention in Colombia Is Not Welcome!" They then burnt Clinton’s and Pastrana’s effigies in front of the US embassy.

In a protest action at the National University, Bogota, masked students clashed with the police. One policeman was killed in the melee and three persons were injured. Masked students fought the riot police in Medellin.

The protesting groups said the military aid, announced by Clinton, was ostensibly for fighting the drug menace but was, in fact, aimed at helping the pro-US Colombian government in its war against opposition forces. It will be noted that the four decades long civil war in Colombia has so far claimed the life of over one and a quarter lakh people; more than 35,000 were killed in the last one decade alone. The protestors charged that as the US does not want to involve itself in a Vietnam-like situation — this was what Clinton himself said on Wednesday — it is egging and aiding the local government to crush the guerrillas who are fighting against "Yankee imperialism."

According to available reports, some 20 persons were left dead on the day which saw protest actions in other parts of the country as well. According to official sources, the dead included 11 civilians, 3 guerrillas and 6 policemen.

That the Colombian and US governments too expected massive protest actions during Clinton’s visit to the country, was evident from the heavy security arrangements made on the occasion in Cartagena where Clinton was scheduled to meet Pastrana. The walled city, which was once the biggest port city of Spain in the New World, was being heavily guarded by more than 5,000 armymen and police, apart from 350 US Secret Service agents. Helicopters, gunships and navy patrol boats were also pressed into service.