Latest News

Chocó is still moving more than a month after Colombia’s 7.4 earthquake

By The City Paper Staff - September 15, 2026

A seismic swarm around Sipí and Istmina in the middle San Juan region of Chocó continues to produce tremors across the department as President De La Espriella visits to oversee reconstruction. The earth beneath Chocó has continued to move more than a month after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Colombia’s Pacific litoral, with a series […]

De La Espriella launches all-out offensive against corruption and “white-collar criminals”

By The City Paper Staff - September 14, 2026

Colombian President Abelardo De La Espriella launched a forceful attack on corruption during an televised address to the nation Sunday, targeting both those convicted of crimes involving public funds and those who, he says, attempt to use their positions, influence or personal connections to secure special treatment. In a speech focused on the victims of […]

Colombia Moves to Revive Aerial Eradication of Coca Crops

By The City Paper Staff - September 10, 2026

Colombia is moving rapidly to revive aerial eradication of coca, but the chemical at the centre of its first proposed test will not be glyphosate, known commercially as “Round Up”. The government of President Abelardo de la Espriella has approved a pilot programme to test the aerial spraying of coca crops with glufosinate ammonium, an […]

Rubio’s Whirlwind Visit Signals a New Era in U.S.-Colombia Relations

By Richard Emblin - September 9, 2026

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s whirlwind visit to Colombia on Tuesday marked a decisive shift in relations between Washington and Bogotá, with President Abelardo De La Espriella presenting his government as a renewed strategic partner for the United States in Latin America. Meeting in Barranquilla, the alternate seat of Colombia’s presidency since De La […]

Rubio Arrives in Colombia as Washington Seeks New Strategic Alliance

By The City Paper Staff - September 8, 2026

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to arrive in Barranquilla on Tuesday afternoon for a high-level meeting with Colombian President Abelardo De La Espriella, in what could become a defining moment in the reconstruction of relations between Bogotá and Washington. The visit, confirmed by Colombia’s Foreign Ministry, will be Rubio’s first official trip […]

Puracé keeps Colombia on alert after volcanic eruptions across the Pacific

By The City Paper Staff - September 7, 2026

Colombia’s Puracé volcano remains under an orange alert after another episode of seismic activity was recorded in the southwestern department of Cauca on Sunday night, adding to a sustained period of volcanic unrest that has included ash emissions, volcanic tremor, gas releases and slow deformation of the ground. A magnitude-4.1 earthquake was recorded at 8:58 […]

Bogotá’s Sacred Music Festival Turns 15 With ‘La Concordia’

By Richard Emblin - September 4, 2026

Bogotá’s iconic Teatro Colón is the starting point for a month-long exploration of music, spirituality and the many ways in which cultures find common ground in a city of contrasts. The occasion is the 15th edition of the International Sacred Music Festival, which opens on under a theme that is both musical and quietly ambitious: […]

Colombia’s ‘Miracle’ Chick Offers Hope for a Bird on the Brink

By Richard Emblin - September 3, 2026

In a country where the morning chorus can include more bird species than anywhere else on Earth, the arrival of one tiny chick carries an outsized significance. Named Milagro, or “Miracle,” the newly hatched blue-billed curassow (Crax alberti) represents more than a successful breeding effort. The female chick is a rare new generation of a […]

Colombia’s ‘Ley Anticapuchos’ draws a necessary line between protest and vandalism

By The City Paper Staff - September 2, 2026

There is nothing particularly controversial about protecting the right to protest. Colombia’s Constitution does it. A democracy needs it. Governments should expect citizens to march, demonstrate, criticize and, when necessary, confront those in power. But there is an equally important principle: the right to protest cannot become a licence to destroy. That is the premise […]

Colombia’s armed groups turn TikTok and Facebook into recruiting grounds for children

By The City Paper Staff - September 1, 2026

Colombia’s long-running conflict has found a new recruiting ground, one that fits inside a child’s pocket. Human Rights Watch has warned that illegal armed groups are increasingly using TikTok, Facebook and other social-media platforms to recruit children, combining propaganda, promises of money and status, coded language and carefully chosen emojis to draw minors toward illegal […]

De La Espriella announces recovery for Tolima as fires destroy 50,000 hectares

By The City Paper Staff - August 31, 2026

President Abelardo De La Espriella announced a sweeping recovery program for Colombia’s fire-ravaged Tolima department on Sunday, saying more than 50,000 hectares had been affected by wildfires and warning that investigators had found indications that many of the blazes were deliberately started. The announcement came during a nationally televised address from Bogotá in which De […]

Colombia’s De la Espriella announces military strike against FARC dissidents in Guaviare

By The City Paper Staff - August 27, 2026

Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella announced Thursday that the country’s Armed Forces have carried out a military strike against the FARC dissident faction commanded by alias Calarcá in the southern department of Guaviare. According to initial reports, eight members of the criminal armed group have been killed. De la Espriella said the operation, code-named […]

Wildfires Consume 30,000 Hectares Across Tolima, Criminal Groups Suspected

By Richard Emblin - August 24, 2026

More than 30,000 hectares have been burned across Colombia’s Tolima department as firefighters battle one of the region’s worst wildfire emergencies in years, but authorities are now investigating a darker possibility: that some of the fires are being deliberately set by criminal groups seeking to divert security forces, destabilize communities and gain control of territory. Interior […]

Shakira Pledges US$1.25 M to Rebuild Earthquake-Damaged Schools in Chocó

By Richard Emblin - August 19, 2026

Colombia’s Shakira has pledged US$1.25 million toward rebuilding schools and educational infrastructure damaged by the earthquake that struck Colombia’s Pacific region on August 10, announcing a major recovery initiative during a visit to Chocó on Monday. The award-winning singer and pop superstar arrived in Quibdó accompanied by American philanthropist Howard Graham Buffett, representatives of CAF, […]

UNGRD Decision Not to Request Foreign Rescuers Sparks Controversy

By The City Paper Staff - August 14, 2026

Amidst the rubble and destruction caused by Monday’s devastating 7.4-magnitude earthquake across much as Central and Southwest Colombia, reports are surfacing that the leftist government of ex-President Gustavo Petro initially decided that the country did not need specialized international search-and-rescue teams. According to a letter signed by Javier Pava, the former head of the National […]

Colombia Earthquake: Death Toll Rises to 202 as Rescue Operations Continue Into Third Day

By The City Paper Staff - August 12, 2026

The death toll from Colombia’s devastating 7.4-magnitude earthquake rose to 202 on Wednesday, according to the latest report from the country’s Institute of Legal Medicine, as rescue crews continued searching collapsed buildings and authorities assessed the full scale of destruction three days after the earthquake struck. The Institute said that, as of 7 a.m. Wednesday, […]