Latest News

British-Born Cancer Specialist Dies After Medellín’s EDC Music Festival

By The City Paper Staff - October 13, 2026

The death of a British-born cancer specialist after an electronic music festival in Medellín this weekend has cast a shadow over the Colombian debut of one of the world’s best-known dance music brands. A second foreign attendee from Costa Rica also died during the Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC), held October 10 and 11 at Medellín’s […]

From Cemetery Duty to a U.S. Indictment: Timochenko’s Name Resurfaces in Maduro Case

By Richard Emblin - October 9, 2026

The image is striking. With machete in hand, Rodrigo Londoño Echeverri, better known by his wartime alias Timochenko, is clearing vegetation and debris among the graves at the San Antonio de Padua cemetery in Pitalito, Huila. The former top commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) is there not as a guerrilla leader, […]

With FARC’s Political Party Over, Colombia’s Peace Accord Faces Deadline

By The City Paper Staff - October 8, 2026

Nine years after Colombia signed its historic peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), one of the central political promises of the Final Accord has run out of road. Comunes, the party formed by the last FARC Secretariat and guerrilla warlords, has lost its legal status after failing to secure sufficient support […]

De La Espriella Sets Ground Rules for Indigenous Protest in Conflict Region

By The City Paper Staff - October 7, 2026

President Abelardo de la Espriella has set clear ground rules for an indigenous mobilization scheduled for October 11–14 in Cauca, guaranteeing the right to peaceful protest while warning that his government will not permit road blockades, violence or attempts to paralyze the department. The warning comes as the Consejo Regional Indígena del Cauca (CRIC) prepares […]

Bogotá’s Weather Turns Electric With Hailstorms

By The City Paper Staff - October 6, 2026

Bogotá’s skies have turned violently electric this week, delivering a dramatic reversal to weeks of dry weather, high temperatures and growing concern over forest fires in the capital’s eastern hills and across the Andean lowlands. On Monday afternoon, October 5, a powerful electrical storm swept across the city after temperatures climbed to 24.6°C during the […]

Colombia’s Catholic Church Puts Exorcism Under Closer Scrutiny

By The City Paper Staff - October 6, 2026

The Catholic Church in Colombia is tightening the way exorcism is approached, placing greater emphasis on discernment, professional training and the protection of people who seek help believing they may be experiencing demonic influence. The new emphasis emerged from the third national formation course for exorcists, held in Bogotá under the title “Liberate and Care: […]

Abelardo’s first Sixty Days: Security at Home, Investment Abroad

By Richard Emblin - October 5, 2026

After 60 days, Abelardo de la Espriella has made one thing unmistakably clear: the era of Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” is over. There will be no intermediaries, no back-channel negotiations and no political accommodation with Colombia’s illegal armed groups. The new government is betting instead on military pressure, territorial control and the restoration of the […]

Drone attacks hit police in Cauca and Chocó as Colombia’s displacement crisis deepens

By Richard Emblin - September 29, 2026

At least 10 police officers were wounded Tuesday in a series of attacks involving drones and explosives in two regions of Colombia, as armed groups continue to employ unmanned aircraft against security forces and the country records a growing number of mass displacement events. The first attack occurred at the former Tunía toll station in […]

Colombia’s Unfinished Business of Peace: De La Espriella and JEP

By Richard Emblin - September 28, 2026

Ten years after Colombia first signed its historic peace agreement with the FARC, the country’s experiment with transitional justice has reached a critical moment. The anniversary arrives not as a celebration of an uncontested peace, but amid a confrontation over the future of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, or JEP, the tribunal established to investigate […]

De La Espriella keeps his promise and sends Colombia’s Vice-President Restrepo to UN

By The City Paper Staff - September 25, 2026

President Abelardo De La Espriella kept one of his most closely watched campaign promises on Thursday, remaining in Colombia to attend to the security situation in Santa Marta and Cali, rather than travelling to Manhattan for the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly. Instead, the president entrusted his first address to the UN […]

What next for Santa Marta after De la Espriella militarized the coastal city?

By The City Paper Staff - September 23, 2026

An uneasy calm settled over Santa Marta on Wednesday, with the Caribbean-facing boardwalk of the city’s historic waterfront noticeably quieter than usual, its bustling street vendors absent and the early-morning joggers few and far between. Across the old city, colonial streets that would normally be filling with residents, tourists and workers remained largely empty. Shops […]

Wildfire reaches Iguaque sanctuary as more than 700 hectares of protected land burn

By The City Paper Staff - September 22, 2026

A wildfire that began on the hills above Colombia’s historic town of Villa de Leyva has spread into the Santuario de Fauna y Flora Iguaque, with more than 700 hectares of the protected area now affected and two fire fronts still active. The emergency, which began on September 19 in the La Castellana area and […]

De La Espriella vows to get ‘Pinocho’ after death of paramilitary leader in Santa Marta

By The City Paper Staff - September 22, 2026

Santa Marta woke on Tuesday to deserted streets, closed businesses and suspended transport following the killing of a senior commander of the Autodefensas Conquistadoras de la Sierra Nevada (ACSN), as President Abelardo De La Espriella vowed to pursue the armed group’s leadership. José Luis Pérez Villanueva, alias “Cholo”, described by authorities as the second commander […]

Raging wildfire threatens Villa de Leyva, authorities investigate suspected arson

By Richard Emblin - September 21, 2026

A massive wildfire continued to burn on Monday above the historic Colombian town of Villa de Leyva, with strong winds hampering efforts to contain the flames as authorities investigated mounting indications that the fire may have been deliberately started. The blaze, which began on Saturday afternoon near the cusp of the San Marcos mountain, has […]

19 minors reported missing in Bogotá in a single week

By The City Paper Staff - September 16, 2026

The disappearance of children and adolescents has become a growing concern in Bogotá after the city’s Security Secretariat reported 19 cases during the last week, the majority involving minors. Twelve of those reported missing were subsequently found alive, while the search continues for the remaining seven. Authorities said several of the cases were linked to […]

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 […]