Worldcrunch
Ecuador’s simmering civil war, curiously, appears to also be a byproduct of the disbanding of Colombia’s FARC rebels in 2016. Since then, chaos has reigned through much of Latin American drug trafficking routes, reverberating with criminal elements in Ecuador.
The Biden administration and Colombia’s new government seem to agree on the need for a new approach to drugs policy. But will they be able to find support in their countries to forge a new strategy?
Although Betancourt is best known for surviving six years as a hostage of the Colombian terror group FARC, and is considered a centrist politician, her unlikely new campaign for president will be centered on gender issues.
With a personal history of suffering and a humane discourse, the liberal Ingrid Betancourt’s return to Colombian politics, even if not a presidential candidate next year, may prompt voters to shun the extremes.
Across the region, hard-line conservatives use residual fears of communism and uproar over changing cultural mores to drum up support.
Underage or not, guerillas who continue taking up arms against the state are ‘war machines,’ the Colombian defense minister recently stated. But what if they were forcibly recruited?
Rural communities that have lost leaders to targeted killings have taken to protecting themselves, and without the use of firearms.
The FARC, a segment of which is now reneging on its peace-deal commitments, should never have been trusted in the first place, writes Colombian columnist Saúl Hernández.
The decision of some prominent members of Colombia’s disbanded FARC rebels to resume fighting the government is bad news. But history — and demography — are working against them.
The crush of migrants trying to flee Venezuela is only part of what makes the border region so chaotic. There’s also a dangerous power struggle between guerillas and criminal gangs.
Last week’s bomb attack in Bogota is symptomatic of the state’s continued inability to monopolize the use of force.
With the help of a talented young engineer, demobilized FARC fighters are using an Archimedes screw hydro turbine to power a remote enclave.
BOGOTÁ — The peace accords signed two years ago with the demobilized FARC guerillas continue to divide Colombians politically, as do questions over how the country should go about ending the conflict with ELN rebels, solve the problem of drug production, and terminate the illegal businesses that have fueled so much barbarism over the years. […]
The peace process he helped guide in Colombia isn’t perfect. Nor is it complete. But by ending the decades-old war with the FARC, outgoing President Manuel Santos definitely made his mark.
-OpEd- BOGOTA — There has been an alarming spike in targeted killings of activists since the decades-long war between the state and FARC guerilla force finally came to an end. Cases are particularly prevalent in territories formerly controlled by the FARC. Since the peace accords were signed in 2016, nearly 180 social, community and indigenous […]
Colombia’s next president may deepen divisions in his country and align Bogota with the belligerent postures of U.S. President Trump.
The Afro-Caribbean village of El Paraíso is seeking reparations as it tries to put itself back together after decades of being caught in crossfire of Colombia’s civil war.
-OpEd- BOGOTÁ — After more than half-a-century of fighting, Colombia’s FARC guerillas have surrendered their weapons and officially transformed themselves into a formal political party. But still, the U.S. government apparently isn’t satisfied. “The FARC hasn’t followed through on the issue of drugs,” the U.S. ambassador to Colombia, Kevin Whitaker, said matter-of-factly in a recent […]
El Espectador, Sep. 6, 2017 Pope Francis begins a five-day visit Wednesday in Colombia, as the country looks to move beyond decades of armed conflict between leftist rebels and the government.
A Colombian NGO is hoping football could turn former communist guerrillas into peaceful citizens — and maybe even sporting stars.
BOGOTA — Freeze! The Mannequin Challenge, the latest internet craze where groups of people make a video of themselves frozen in time, has an unlikely new participant: the Colombian rebel army FARC. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which has spent much of the past half-century waging a bloody insurgency and holding hostages for […]
-OpEd- BOGOTÁ — The Democratic Center, a right-wing political party led by Colombia’s former president Álvaro Uribe Vélez, was vehemently opposed to the peace deal with the country’s largest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. The accord to end nearly a half-century of conflict, which was ultimately rejected in the surprise […]
Momentous national referendums in Colombia and Britain have shown how dangerous it can be to put complicated decisions in the hands of a fickle populous.
The committee that awards the Nobel Peace Prize does not approach its task the way the Academy assigns the Oscars. The Nobel is not a trophy to crown an achievement as much as a message … or more precisely, a “shot in the arm.” The Nobel committee has long made it clear that they choose […]
SPOTLIGHT: ABORTION BACK ON WORLD AGENDA The recurring battle over abortion was bound to resurface in the U.S. presidential campaign, becoming what the Los Angeles Times called “one of the most personal, intense” moments of last night’s debate between the respective running mates of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Both Republican vice presidential candidate Mike […]
SPOTLIGHT: A DARKER REALITY IN THE CITY OF LIGHTS Paris has always had a dark side. Uprisings, demonstrations, even revolution…the streets of Paris have been awash in blood time and again over the centuries. In far more recent months, terror attacks, floods and strikes have stamped the City of Light as the standing capital of […]
-OpEd- BOGOTÁ — Colombians have now had their say, voting Sunday to reject the peace deal signed between the government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), intended to end more than 50 years of fighting in the country. The No vote triumphed against all odds it seems, against […]
-OpEd- BOGOTÁ — On Sunday, Colombians will decide whether to ratify a peace deal that makes the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, lay down their arms. But if that happens, what will the future of FARC look like? Will it become a socialist party like the one that has driven Venezuela into an […]
SPOTLIGHT: COLOMBIA, NOW TO THE PEOPLE When Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos signed an agreement yesterday with top rebel FARC commander Rodrigo “Timochenko” Londoño, the pair used pens made from the casings of bullets. It was a powerful piece of symbolism as the last major war in the Americas appeared to draw to a close. […]
The United States, and much of the rest of the world, will turn its collective attention tonight to the campus of Hofstra University, where Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will hold their first presidential debate. A quick look at the American and international press today shows just how much anticipation there is ahead of what’s […]
Decades of war between FARC guerrillas and the government seem to have made aggression a widespread social trait in Colombia that’s reflected in cases of domestic violence, bullying at school and a tendency to talk tough. The peace deal could help
El Tiempo — Sept. 26, 2016 “Peace after 267,162 dead,” declares the stark headline on the front page of newspaper El Tiempo on Monday as Colombia gets ready for a historic accord between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The Latin American country has seen war for 52 years in a […]
New York is again testing the limits of its status as “the city that never sleeps.” A week after marking the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks at Ground Zero, an explosion a bit farther uptown Saturday injured 29 people. And now, even as the investigation continues into that attack in the Chelsea […]
Decades of civil war have ravaged Colombia’s environment and undermined opportunities at oil exploration. Now with peace looming, big and small firms alike are ready to pursue the government’s “sustainable” energy plan.
The quest for the final frontier is still very much on. But rather than the Cold War-era space race between the two governments of the United States and Soviet Union, the competition now has many players, both public and private. The public sector these days includes China, which recently announced plans to send an unmanned […]
-Analysis- BOGOTÁ — Decades of civil conflict and the formation of the communist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) could be attributed in part to the struggle for land in this Latin American nation. That’s why land was one of the most important issues in FARC’s peace negotiations with the government. A historic deal was […]
Negotiators working to end Colombia’s decades-long civil war are seeing women as a critical component of lasting social and political peace.
El Tiempo, Aug. 3 “Police destroyed 104 FARC laboratories in Guaviare,” reads the Wednesday front page of the Colombian daily El Tiempo. An accompanying image shows security forces operating in the nation’s thick southeastern jungle. The head of the anti-narcotics police announced yesterday that the 104 cocaine laboratories, run by the FARC (or Revolutionary Armed […]
For Chile’s former president, Ricardo Lagos, peace between Bogota and leftist FARC guerrillas could signal a new path well beyond the borders of Colombia — though a post-Brexit Europe may be hard to reach.