Colombia

Venezuela bans flights from Colombia following arrests in anti-govt plot

Venezuela on Monday banned the arrival of flights from neighboring Colombia after authorities detained more than 30 people who were allegedly plotting activities to destabilize the country ahead of Sunday's election. The arrests were announced just as an independent panel of experts backed by the Organization of American States released a report documenting serious human rights abuses in Venezuela as the government tightened its grip on dissent after the July 28 presidential election. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello on state television said the flight ban was immediate and would last beyond Sunday, when voters across the country are expected to elect governors and National Assembly members. But Colombia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement said Venezuela's government had notified it that flights would resume the day after the election. Cabello said the anti-government plans involved placing explosives at embassies and other facilities in Venezuela. He said authorities had

Colombia applies to join China-led Brics bank amid shift from US ties

Colombia's government has applied to join a China-based development bank, another sign of Latin America's drift away from the US as the Trump administration's foreign aid cuts, trade barriers and crackdown on immigration spurs many leaders in the region to seek closer ties with Washington's geopolitical rival. Colombian President Gustavo Petro wrapped up a visit to China this week with a stop in Shanghai, where he met with former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, the head of the New Development Bank. The multilateral lender was set up a decade ago as a project of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa the BRICS nations of major developing markets as a counter to US-dominated institutions like the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank. To date, the New Development Bank has approved loans for 122 infrastructure projects totalling more than USD 40 billion in areas such as transport, sanitation and clean energy, according to Rousseff. Petro, speaking to reporters in

Colombian lawmakers reject president's labour reform referendum

Lawmakers in Colombia on Wednesday once again blocked President Gustavo Petro's efforts to overhaul the country's labour laws, this time by rejecting a referendum that would have asked voters whether workdays should be limited to eight hours and whether workers should receive double pay if they work during holidays. Petro asked Congress earlier this month to approve the 12-question referendum to give voters a chance to decide on the changes that lawmakers themselves had already rejected twice. He had warned lawmakers against blocking the referendum, saying before thousands of people gathered for a Labour Day demonstration on May 1 that if they did not approve it, Colombians would punish them at the polls during the 2026 legislative elections. After an intense debate Wednesday, 49 senators voted against the measure and 47 in favour. Petro, Colombia's first leftist president, characterised the vote as fraudulent. He has repeatedly accused lawmakers of blocking his social initiatives a

Colombian rebel group starts handing over arms as peace talks progress

A rebel group called the Commoners of the South has begun handing its weapons over to Colombia's government, the Defense Ministry said Saturday, as part of peace talks expected to lead to the group's disarmament in the coming months. The group of about 250 fighters operates in Colombia's Southwestern Nario province and has been in negotiations with the government since last year. This is a historic moment, Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a ceremony in the town of Pasto, where several accords with the group were outlined by officials. Sanchez said that over the past two days, the Commoners of the South have handed over land mines, grenades and rockets to an army unit that is destroying them. Farmers will be able to walk without the fear of coming across a minefield, Sanchez said. Until recently, the Commoners of the South was part of the National Liberation Army, or ELN, a group of about 6,000 fighters that is still fighting Colombia's government. In May last year, the Comm

Deportation flights from US to Colombia resume after diplomatic spat

Colombian migrants returning home Tuesday on Colombian military flights described being shackled during earlier US flights that were blocked by their country's leader in a dispute with President Donald Trump that nearly sparked a trade war. Deportation flights between the US and Colombia resumed Tuesday after the diplomatic drama over the weekend that provided clues as to how the Trump administration would deal with countries blocking large-scale plans to deport migrants who entered illegally. Colombia's President Gustavo Petro initially refused to accept two US military planes with migrants, prompting Trump to threaten 25% tariffs on Colombian exports and other sanctions. Colombia then relented and said it would accept the migrants, but fly them on Colombian military flights that Petro said would guarantee them dignity. Two Colombian air force planes landed Tuesday in Bogota with more than 200 of the migrants, many of them women and children. Petro welcomed them with a post on X ..

Visa appointments cancelled in Colombia after spat over deportation flights

Visa appointments at the US Embassy in Colombia were cancelled Monday following a dispute over deportation flights from the US that nearly turned into a costly trade war between the two countries. Dozens of Colombians showed up outside the US Embassy in Bogota and were handed letters by local staff that said their appointments had been cancelled due to the Colombian government's refusal to accept repatriation flights of Colombian nationals. Others with visa appointments for Monday received similar email messages. Obtaining an appointment can take up to two years. Tensions between Colombia and the United States escalated Sunday after President Gustavo Petro wrote an early morning message on X saying he would not allow two US air force planes carrying Colombian deportees to land in the country. He had previously authorized the flights. Petro also shared a video that showed another group of deportees reportedly arriving in Brazil with shackles on their legs. He said Colombia would onl

Harry & Meghan's Colombia tour sparks outrage over Rs 16.3 cr security bill

The tour was widely viewed as an attempt to mirror an official royal visit, raising questions given the couple's decision to step back from royal duties over four years ago

What's on agenda at COP16 nature summit in Colombia: All you need to know

COP16 host country Colombia has put the inclusion of Indigenous and traditional communities at the center of its agenda in Cali

India, Colombia to deepen engagement, explore new avenues of cooperation

Both sides also exchanged views on regional, multilateral, and international issues of mutual interest during the FOC on Tuesday, the Ministry of Externals Affairs (MEA) stated in a release

Colombian rebels, world's oldest guerrilla force revive war on oil firms

The rebels have long viewed the oil industry as a military target as well as a cash cow, its antagonism comes from its belief that Colombia should have sovereignty over its natural resources

Brazil, Colombia urge Venezuela to release vote tallies, denounce violence

The leaders of Brazil and Colombia on Saturday again called on Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro to release voting tallies, days after the country's Supreme Court backed the government's disputed claims that it won elections in July. In a joint statement, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Colombian President Gustavo Petro said the credibility of the electoral process can only be restored through the transparent publication of disaggregated and verifiable data. The two leaders also warned against repression as the Venezuelan government has jailed thousands and met protests with violence. The governments spoke a day after several other Latin American countries and the U.S. rejected the Venezuelan high court's certification. Many were waiting to see how the two leftist leaders would respond to the court because both are close allies of Maduro and have been working to facilitate talks with both sides. Maduro claims that he won the presidential vote, but so far has refu

Colombian Prez Petro was target of possible attack in July: Defence min

Colombian President Gustavo Petro was the target of a possible attack in July, when he took part in a public event in downtown Bogot, Defense Minister Ivn Velsquez said Thursday, without providing evidence or elaborating further. There was information about that an attack, Velsquez said, but declined to provide additional details when pressed by reporters. Petro participated in the traditional military parade on July 20 to commemorate the 214th anniversary of Colombia's independence from Spain, after arriving several hours late to the event. Petro said at the time that his tardiness was due to information that had to be corroborated with the United States embassy, and a lack of coordination among my security detail. On Wednesday, Gustavo Bolvar, one of Petro's closest allies in his cabinet, insisted to the press that the president arrived late on July 20 because there were security concerns and a warning from the U.S. embassy. Petro, a former rebel and the first leftist president

Colombia's president signs bill to ban bullfighting in the country by 2027

Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Monday signed a bill that bans bullfights in the South American country, further reducing the short list of nations around the world where the centuries-old tradition is still legal. Petro signed it in front of hundreds of animal rights activists during a ceremony held in Bogota's bullring, after a supporter in a bull costume handed him a copy of the legislation. We cannot tell the world that killing living and sentient beings for entertainment is culture, Petro said in a speech after signing the bill. That kind of culture of killing an animal for entertainment would also lead us to killing human beings for entertainment, because we are also animals. The bullfighting ban was approved by Colombia's Congress in May, after months of heated debates. The bill calls on the government to completely ban bullfights across the nation by 2027, and orders the government to turn more than a dozen bullrings into cultural and sporting venues. Bullfights have

Colombia to end cease-fire with largest faction of FARC rebel holdout group

Colombia's government on Tuesday said it will end a cease-fire with the largest faction of the FARC-EMC, a holdout rebel group that refused to sign a 2016 peace deal but which had been involved in peace talks with President Gustavo Petro's administration until March. In a press conference, Defence Minister Ivn Velsquez said the FARC-EMC has split into two factions. He said a cease-fire with the group's smallest faction will be extended for three months while peace talks with the government continue. The FARC-EMC was founded by fighters who refused to join a peace deal between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia that led to the disarmament of more than 13,000 rebels and their integration into civilian life. Colombia's military estimates the hold out group has more than 4,400 fighters who operate in southwestern Colombia, in the Amazon piedmont, and in the Catatumbo region along Colombia's border with Venezuela. The group's two factions are led by commanders

Colombia will suspend coal exports to Israel over Gaza war, says Prez Petro

Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced on Saturday that his country will suspend coal exports to Israel over the war in Gaza, as relations sour between two countries that were once close military and commercial allies. Petro wrote on the social media platform X that coal exports will only resume when the genocide in Gaza stops. Petro also posted a draft decree, which says that coal exports will only resume if Israel complies with a recent order by the International Court of Justice that says Israel should withdraw its troops from the Gaza strip. According to Colombia's National Statistics Department, coal exports to Israel were worth more than $320 million in the first eight months of last year. That's a small fraction of the nation's overall coal exports which were worth more than $9 billion in 2023. Israel imports more than 50% of its coal from Colombia, according to the American Journal for Transportation, and uses much of it to feed its power plants. Petro, who was elected

We will break diplomatic ties with Israel over war in Gaza: Colombia Prez

Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Wednesday announced his government will break diplomatic relations with Israel effective Thursday in the latest escalation of tensions between the countries over the Israel-Hamas war. Petro again described Israel's siege of Gaza as genocide. He previously suspended purchases of weapons from Israel and compared that country's actions in Gaza to those of Nazi Germany. Tomorrow, diplomatic relations with the State of Israel will be broken for having a genocidal president, Petro said during an International Workers' Day march in Colombia's capital. If Palestine dies, humanity dies, and we are not going to let it die. Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz quickly rebuked Petro's comments on the platform X. History will remember that Gustavo Petro decided to side with the most despicable monsters known to mankind who burned babies, murdered children, raped women and kidnapped innocent civilians, he said. Weeks after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southe

Thousands of grenades, bullets missing from army bases: Colombian Prez

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Tuesday that hundreds of thousands of pieces of ammunition have gone missing from two military bases in the South American country. In a brief statement, Petro said that an inspection this month by the army found that hundreds of thousands of bullets, thousands of grenades and 37 anti-tank missiles were stolen from a military base in the centre of the country and another near the Caribbean coast. Petro, the country's first left-wing president, said the ammunition might have ended up in the hands of Colombian rebel groups, or may have been sold illegally to criminal groups overseas, including Haitian gangs. The only way to explain these missing items is that there are networks made up of people within the armed forces who are involved in the illegal arms trade, Petro said. Petro said that inspections of military bases would continue in order to separate the armed forces from any type of criminal organisation. The investigation comes as Colombi

Haiti declares curfew to restore order after violent weekend jailbreak

Haiti's government declared a state of emergency and nighttime curfew late Sunday in a bid to regain control of the streets after an explosion of violence over the weekend saw armed gang members storm the country's two biggest prisons. The 72-hour state of emergency went into immediate effect as the government said it would set out to find the killers, kidnappers and other violent criminals that it reported escaped from the prison. The police were ordered to use all legal means at their disposal to enforce the curfew and apprehend all offenders, said a statement from Finance Minister Patrick Boivert, who is serving as acting prime minister. Prime Minister Ariel Henry travelled abroad last week to try to salvage support for a bringing in a United Nations-backed security force to stabilise the country in its conflict with increasingly powerful crime groups. The decree capped a deadly weekend that marked a new low in Haiti's downward spiral of violence. At least nine people had been .

Colombia declares disaster over wildfires, asks for international help

Colombia's government declared a disaster on Thursday and asked for international help to combat raging wildfires that are expected to worsen in coming days due to warm, dry conditions associated with the El Nio weather phenomenon. Officials raised the number of fires from 25 to 31, and said nine of them were under control. They did not order mandatory evacuations despite some fires burning in the mountains that surround some municipalities. President Gustavo Petro said Chile, the United States, Peru and Canada have already responded to the call for help, without specifying when the assistance will arrive to the South American country. The government also asked for aid from the United Nations and European Union. To the extent that we know that in the coming days and weeks crisis events are going to increase, we want to make sure that we have the physical capacity to address and mitigate them, Petro said. Colombia's Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies repo

Underdeveloped nations fighting drugmakers over access to TB, HIV drugs

South Africa, Colombia and other countries that lost out in the global race for coronavirus vaccines are taking a more combative approach towards drugmakers and pushing back on policies that deny cheap treatment to millions of people with tuberculosis and HIV. Experts see it as a shift in how such countries deal with pharmaceutical behemoths and say it could trigger more efforts to make lifesaving medicines more widely available. In the COVID-19 pandemic, rich countries bought most of the world's vaccines early, leaving few shots for poor countries and creating a disparity the World Health Organization called a catastrophic moral failure. Now, poorer countries are trying to become more self-reliant because they've realized after COVID they can't count on anyone else, said Brook Baker, who studies treatment-access issues at Northeastern University. One of the targets is a drug, bedaquiline, that is used for treating people with drug-resistant versions of tuberculosis. The pills are