It is easy to feel buried by the avalanche of bad news from around the world. But we have a duty to gratefully enjoy the moments of our lives, come what may.
Source: EL ESPECTADOR
The oldest newspaper in Colombia, El Espectador was founded in 1887. The national daily newspaper has historically taken a firm stance against drug trafficking and in defense of freedom of the press. In 1986, the director of El Espectador was assassinated by gunmen hired by Pablo Escobar. The majority share-holder of the paper is Julio Mario Santo Domingo, a Colombian businessman named by Forbes magazine as one of the wealthiest men in the world in 2011.
As Colombia considers banning former soldiers from fighting as mercenaries abroad — in places like Sudan — the government should first look into the economic conditions that push them into this ugly line of work.
The Russian author of “Crime and Punishment” thought plain-old realism was not good enough in art. Realism, he believed, must be but a tool to reveal a bigger, “hidden” and even implausible realities of earthly existence. The notion was expanded on a century later far away in South America.
With synthetic drugs like pink cocaine on the rise, Colombia should not mimic its fight against the drugs like marijuana or cocaine in the 1990s; anti-drug policies must turn their focus from users to dealers.
Armed groups are increasingly restricting movement in Colombia’s northwestern Chocó region — a growing problem across the country.
In Colombia, people with disabilities face multiple barriers to accessing comprehensive sexuality education, which limits their autonomy and increases the risk of sexual violence. Experts warn that the education and health systems still do not guarantee their right to receive adequate information and support.
Miraña, spoken by just 170 people, is one of the indigenous languages that is in danger of disappearing in Colombia. Researchers and activists are working to save it from extinction.
Getting El Salvador’s compliant parliament to legislate and scrap presidential term limits is the latest and sure-fire sign that President Nayib Bukele has no intention of ending his no-nonsense rule any time soon.
Maoism seduced universities worldwide in the 1960s and 70s, harming tolerance and academic excellence in the process. Today, that fascination has morphed in countries like Colombia into awe of China the superpower, which is equally unnerving.
As it recently did with Brazil, the United States is now dissing a court ruling against another conservative politician, in Colombia, and showing the Trump administration’s reluctant respect not just for state sovereignty, but for the rule of law.
Across Mexico, where gentrification has pushed housing prices up by 247% from 2005 to 2021, locals are angry over their forced displacement and lack of housing rights. They recently protested against mass tourism and “digital nomads.”
People would have understood Israel’s punitive retribution, even a singularly harsh response, to the October 7 massacre of Israelis by Hamas gunmen. But it has since gone far too far, prompting even sympathizers to wonder in horror, is a democracy committing genocide.
Benjamin Netanyahu proposing the U.S. president for the Nobel Peace prize may seem a sinister joke, but it seems the Gaza genocide these laureates-in-waiting are boasting about is reaping them benefits. It is giving them wings, like those of vultures.
Some of Colombia’s wealthiest families prefer to move abroad, with their money, following a custom of the super-rich in many places. They should remember, the homeland they spurn gave them all the opportunities to become rich.
Venezuelan media lambasted Israel during its 12-day assault on the Islamic Republic of Iran, not for justice’s sake, but as an illustration of just how much clout the Tehran regime has bought itself in the Western Hemisphere.
After turning his war on crime into a global spectacle, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has reportedly cut deals with the Mara gangs, like his predecessors, possibly in return for their quiescence in order to keep Donald Trump happy.
It is not the first time in history demagogues have spoken of mass movements led by a charismatic leader as “true” democracy, as is happening in several Western nations today. Even the ancients could see this for what it was: a mix of mob rule and political manipulation.
A bracelet from Spain is one of the products helping detect if your drink was ‘spiked’ at a nightclub to cause torpor and impede self-defense. But while such tools may prevent incidents like rape, activists say they’d prefer solutions to the plague of sexist violence, Luisa Lara reports in El Espectador.
The brutal assassination attempt on Colombian presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe Turbay has reopened decades-old wounds in the country. Amid grief and urgent investigations, the nation is wondering how unchecked rhetoric of hate that only breeds violence can be replaced by the defense of democracy with genuine compassion.
Asexuality, the near or total absence of sexual desire, is another orientation fighting to be socially accepted. We find a deeper understanding in Latin America from conversations with asexual people and organizations defending their rights.
China is taking a growing interest in investing in Latin America — just as the Trump administration is making the United States less reliable. But what are Beijing’s real motivations.
Rats, which can transmit deadly diseases, seem to have proliferated everywhere, unchecked. Is the anthropocene a mere prelude to a nightmarish, golden age of rats?
Nothing in cities and spaces is random. Bathroom lines, street names, and the maps we use every day also tell a story of inequality. Feminist geography seeks to make visible what is often overlooked and proposes a more equitable way of inhabiting space.
Far fewer Latin American migrants are trying to reach the United States under the Trump administration, but is this a “problem solved”? For now?
Gang crime, explosions and hitmen killings, linked to guerrillas or cross-border trafficking, are turning the Colombian frontier city of Cúcuta into a lawless free-for-all. The locals however, are not as shocked as they should be.
Mother figures don’t always look the same. In the lives of many trans people, that presence comes in the form of a trans mother — a role that is born out of love and chosen care.
There is enough evidence already on the harm done by screen addiction among minors to justify banning smartphones for the entire school day, yet many schools and countries have yet to take strict action on this issue.
Courts in Colombia ruled against a company that had fired a worker for not joining its ‘”invigorating” dance therapy sessions. It’s about basic freedoms, religious and otherwise.
Latin Americans must do more than just keep afloat and survive the harsh times reflected in the Trump presidency. They can show the world a model of humane governance that shuns the economic, environmental and military violence of our time.
Human rights groups warn that El Salvador’s prisons are marked by overcrowding, lack of access to basic services and repeated rights violations — but that the situation is even worse for women, who are already vulnerable sector of the population.
Donald Trump has raised a hue and cry with his tariffs and is no doubt wallowing in the repercussions. Yet we may have forgotten he is a businessman, not an arsonist, and doing what he has always done, playing hardball for a fast buck.
A Spanish court has quashed a rape conviction against a Barcelona soccer star, describing it as based, technically speaking, on evidence that was not compelling. This can only further discourage women already daunted by having to take an aggressor to court.
Human rights groups warn that El Salvador’s prisons are marked by overcrowding, lack of access to basic services and repeated rights violations — but that the situation is even worse for women, who are already vulnerable sector of the population.
In a not-so-distant future, Latin Americans will find they too were wealthy like their overbearing northern neighbor, only their “capital” consisted of art, music and resilience, combined in one of their biggest assets home-bred superstar Shakira.
Certainly things don’t work in communist Cuba, but this neither justifies the embargo that has all but strangled it for decades, nor the obsession with sweeping a singular experiment in governance and social welfare into the globalized banality of our time.
Colombian writer Mauricio Restrepo Posada says U.S. President Donald Trump is not only hostile to Latin America and the Third World, but also to the entire planet, including his fellow citizens. Faced with this monster who wants to own the planet, there is little ordinary global citizens can do — except for the firm decision not to buy U.S.-exported products.
Colombian superstar Shakira performed in a rare concert in her hometown, timed with its world-famous carnival. The connection with locals comes not just from her stardom but the singer’s humble way of enjoying the city like any local mom with her kids
Launched in the 1960s, USAID was effectively about exercising political control in Latin America and other countries. So why the fuss now that U.S. President Donald Trump has done away with the agency? We should be more concerned about what’s coming next.
The daily spectacle of Donald Trump and his minions striking at institutions and backstabbing allies may be depressing, but the United States is more than that. Once the fever subsides, that vibrant, inclusive country will recall that greatness does not rest on meanness, thuggery or wealth.
The U.S. is largely to blame for exploitative migration policy. But while Colombian President Gustavo Petro is upset that the United States is handcuffing the Colombians it deports, he and many other South American presidents are not as upset by the mistreatment that makes people leave their home countries in the first place.