The Colombian city has become then epicentre of protests against President Iván Duque.

Panam Sports declined to comment on the status of the Junior Pan American Games when contacted by insidethegames. 

Colombia last month lost co-hosting rights to the Copa América because of the violence, with the tournament since being moved to Brazil.

The Colombian Government had asked that the tournament be delayed until November 2021 - the same month the Junior Pan American Games are due to start - but this request was rejected.

Two civilians are reported to have been killed at Paso del Comercio, where protestors have been staging a blockade for more than a month, on Friday night (June 4).

Exitosa, a radio station in neighbouring Peru, is among various news sources saying this took the death toll in the country to 61, although other estimates are higher.

Cali has seen some of the fiercest clashes and the United Nations' High Commissioner for Human Rights has called for an independent review into the deaths of protestors in the city.

At least 14 were killed there in the last week of May, and the army has been deployed in Cali.

Protests began on April 28 in response to proposed tax reform.

While Duque’s Government has now shelved that policy, protests continue, with police brutality among the main reasons cited by demonstrators, who want security forces to be held accountable.

High poverty rates, the Government response to COVID-19 and the perceived lack of protection it offers to indigenous groups have also caused some to protest, with demands including universal basic income and improved opportunities for young people.

Cali 2021 was moved to November 25 to December 5 on May 12, with Panam Sports blaming the two-and-a-half-month delay on the COVID-19 pandemic.

The security situation in the country has worsened since.

Parallels could be drawn to Belarus, where civil unrest and a heavy-handed Government crackdown on protests led to the International Modern Pentathlon Union and International Ice Hockey Federation moving events from the country.

After Alexander Lukashenko, the President regarded by much of the international community as a dictator, ordered the kidnapping of a dissident journalist by forcing a commercial flight to land in Minsk under the guise of a bomb scare, the European Cycling Union belatedly moved its premier track event away from Belarus too.

This year’s Junior Pan American Games are set to be the first edition of the event.