With literally no food to feed himself and his family, an unemployed man has sewn shut his mouth and locked himself behind an iron mask demanding the government attend to the economic quagmire he's sunk into.

According to Luis Miguel Aldana, 52 he adopted the peculiar form of protest five days ago, after being locked out of his apartment in Bogota.

Aldana said he used the money intended for his rental to buy shoes for his three children.

The protester said he he is demanding the government for a loan so he can fund a cottage textile business and pay health care bills for his wife and children.

Without the loan, Aldana says his family will end up living on the streets.

"I'm doing this to get attention because people have a heart of iron and also a face of iron, they don't listen to anybody and think this is a joke," said Aldana, speaking from of the corner of his mouth that is not sewn shut.

Currently, Aldana is staying in a neighbor's house, where he sits in bed with his hands and legs locked in chains.