The Colombian government agreed to a six-month ceasefire with the five largest armed groups in the country, a truce that is part of leftist President Gustavo Petro’s efforts to end decades of conflict in Colombia, Agence France-Presse reported. Petro announced the ceasefire on New Year’s Eve,...
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The Colombian government and the country’s largest remaining guerrilla group are planning to restart peace talks, four years after the initial negotiations were suspended amid disagreements between the two parties, the Associated Press reported. After meeting in Venezuela’s capital this week, delegates of the Colombian government...
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Colombia and Venezuela formally restored relations Monday, ending a three-year-long diplomatic impasse between the two neighboring countries, Bloomberg reported. The restart of relations comes less than a month after leftist Colombian President Gustavo Petro took office. Petro – the country’s first leftist leader – vowed to...
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Leftist President Gustavo Petro proposed new plans to decriminalize cocaine in Colombia, in an effort to end the war on drugs despite concerns from its main ally the United States, the Washington Post reported. Colombia, the largest producer of cocaine in the world, has been on...
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The president-elect of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, was in jail when his leftist guerilla movement, M-19, stormed the Palace of Justice in the South American country’s capital, Bogotá, in 1985. They launched the attack with the financial backing of drug lord Pablo Escobar in hopes of...
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Colombia’s Truth Commission presented this week its long-awaited final report on the country’s decades-long civil conflict, which strongly urged the government to rethink its war on drugs and called for a “great peace,” Al Jazeera reported Wednesday. The report comes shortly after Colombia’s historic presidential elections,...
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Leftist Senator Gustavo Petro won Colombia’s presidential elections Sunday, making him the first leftwing candidate and first former insurgent to be elected as president of the US’ key ally in Latin America, the Wall Street Journal reported. Petro secured slightly more than 50 percent of the...
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Two anti-establishment candidates are heading for a runoff following this weekend’s presidential election, one that dealt a major blow to Colombia’s political class, Axios reported. Leftist Senator Gustavo Petro secured more than 40 percent of the vote, while his right-wing populist rival Rodolfo Hernandez came in...
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A Colombian rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN) announced a 10-day, unilateral ceasefire with government forces to allow voters in the South American country to cast ballots for a new president on May 29. As Al Jazeera reported, the ELN is the largest remaining insurgent...
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Colombia’s largest drug cartel shut down dozens of towns in the country’s north this week and threatened to shoot all who disobeyed its stay-at-home orders, a move seen as retaliation for the extradition of the group’s leader to the United States, CBS News reported Tuesday. Last...
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Left-wing candidate Gustavo Petro won Colombia’s primary election this week, a victory that puts the former Marxist guerilla fighter as a top contender in May's presidential vote, the Financial Times reported Monday. Petro, who is also a senator and former congressman, will now go to the...
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Colombia became the latest Latin American nation to decriminalize abortion after the country’s Constitutional Court ruled this week to allow the procedure in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, Axios reported. The landmark ruling came after years of campaigning by women’s rights groups and changing trends in...
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