Activists hope to bring an end to bullfighting in Colombia

World Today

Bullfight in Colombia

Colombia’s bullfighting season has come to an end, and animal rights activists are hoping it’ll be the last.

CGTN’s Michelle Begue reports.

The first bullfight in January was met with clashes between protesters and riot police.

Bogota’s previous mayor had outlawed bullfighting in 2012. But Colombia’s constitutional court later overturned the ban, ruling it was part of the country’s cultural heritage.

“In fact this new season is called the “Season of Liberty,” because we wanted to show that a minority should have the freedom to express itself, and express their emotions in a bullfighting ring,” Carlos Sanabria, a Colombian bullfighting aficionado said.

Bullfighting fans said attendance was greatly affected anyway with less than two-thirds of the Santamaria plaza filled in a recent bullfighting event.

With the last bullfight of the season on Sunday Feb. 19, animal rights activists marched, to make it the last bullfight in Bogota’s history.