Colombia Reports

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Colombia’s Finance Minister German Avila walked out of a meeting with the Central Bank’s board of directors after they decided to increase the bank’s interest rate. At a press conference, Avila said that the bank’s decision to increase the interest rate with one percentage point to 11.25% “will have a sustained and significant impact on the country’s economic dynamics.” According to the minister, the board’s monetary policy “serves only the i

Colombia’s Supreme Court sentenced Senator Ciro Ramirez of the far-right Democratic Center party to 23 years in prison for embezzling more than $24 million in public funds. According to the court, Ramirez led a criminal organization made up of government officials and State contractors that embezzled infrastructure funds and guaranteed no-show contracts for the Senator’s corporate sponsors. The court found that the senator secured multiple National Planning Department (DNP) contracts

President Gustavo Petro said that Colombia will pull out of investor protection treaties that allow foreign corporations to sue the State over perceived losses before international tribunals. In a post on social media platform X, Petro said that “I accept the invitation from 200 global economists to change the global investment regime.” Petro said that investor claims against the State should go “through Colombia’s public justice system. And if that fails, a multilateral

Colombia’s Prosecutor General’s Office announced criminal investigations into sexual harassment in corporate news outlets after multiple journalists said on social media they were the victim of abuse. The deluge of sexual harassment complaints followed an announcement by one of the country’s top television networks, Caracol, which said on Friday that it had “immediately activated internal protocols and procedures established by law” in response to harassment claims

Rescue workers were able to rescue 48 people from the wreck of a Hercules aircraft that crashed in southern Colombia with 125 member of the security forces on board, the commander of the Air Force said. According to General Carlos Fernando Silva, the airplane crashed shortly after taking off from an air strip in Puerto Leguizamo, a municipality on the border with Peru, around 9:50AM on Monday. In a post on social media platform X, Silva said that the C130 has 125 people on board, 11 Air Force s

A late commander of FARC dissident group Segunda Marquetalia (SM) ordered the assassination of the far-right Senator Miguel Uribe, according to the man who admitted to recruiting the assassins. As part of a plea agreement, Simeon Perez, a.k.a. “El Viejo,” admitted before the court that he coordinated the assassination following the orders of senior SM commander “Zarco Aldinever.” El Viejo testified that he was contacted by “Yako,” a former FARC guerrilla who r

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The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has designated Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro as a “priority target,” reported the Associated Press (AP) news agency on Friday. AP was given access to records that would prove that the DEA considers the president a “suspected criminal,” based on information provided by the agency’s network of “confidential informants” since 2022. The basic concept of priority targeting is to identify, targ

At least two US federal prosecutors have opened preliminary investigations into Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro, the New York Times (NYT) reported on Friday. According to the US newspaper, the criminal investigations were being conducted by the US attorney’s offices in Manhattan and Brooklyn, and would be supported by agents of Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The investigations have been trying to establish, among other things, if Pe

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro said Monday that evidence suggests Ecuador’s armed forces are carrying out cross-border air strikes. During a televised cabinet meeting, Petro said that “a bomb has been found” that was apparently “dropped from a plane.” “They are bombing us from Ecuador and it’s not the armed groups,” said the president. Petro said that he asked his US counterpart Donald Trump to call his Ecuadorean counterpart, Daniel Nobo

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Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro and his US counterpart Donald Trump spoke on the phone ahead of a planned meeting with Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez, the President’s Office said Thursday. In a post on social media platform X, the President’s Office said the two leaders “discussed the economic reactivation on the border [with Venezuela] and other matter of bilateral interest” like “energy issues, hydrocarbons, security, the eradication o

The Bogota appeals court sentenced attorneys Diego Cadena and Juan José Salazar to more than seven years house arrest for trying to bribe witnesses for Colombia’s former president Alvaro Uribe, their client. The appeals court ruled that Cadena, a.k.a. “the Gangsattorney,” did not jut bribe witnesses, but also committed fraud to shield Uribe and his brother Santiago, from allegations they helped create the “Bloque Metro” paramilitary group in the 1990’s. Becaus

Colombia’s Supreme Court formally accused six House Representatives and ordered the arrest of two of them over their alleged involvement in the embezzlement of emergency funds. As members of the congressional Public Credit Commission, the lawmakers allegedly agreed to a compensation in exchange for approving three investment projects funded by the disaster management agency, UNGRD. The UNGRD scandal erupted in February 2024 when local media found evidence suggesting that money meant for di

The frontrunner in Colombia’s election race, leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda, announced that Senator Aida Quilcue, a renowned indigenous leader, will be his running mate. In a video message, Cepeda said that Quilcue, 53, accepted his invitation to run for vice-president ahead of the first round on the presidential election in May. The candidate praised his running mate’s organization, the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca (CRIC) and its “resistance, social struggle and construct

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Far-right Senator Paloma Valencia won Colombia’s center-right primary with 3.2 million votes on Sunday, securing significant support for her presidential bid. Valencia, a disciple of former President Alvaro Uribe, received 3.2 million of the 5.9 million votes cast in the “Great Consultation” that was held on the same day as the congressional elections. Ahead of the primary, all nine candidates vowed to put their weight behind the winner of the multipartite vote. According to al