Latest News

Qatar Airways opens a new aviation corridor between Bogotá, Caracas and Doha

By Richard Emblin -

The launch of the airline’s twice-weekly South American service offers more than a new connection for Colombians. Its strategic importance may lie in linking Venezuela’s vast energy resources with Gulf investment capital and opening a new gateway between Latin America, the Middle East and Asia. BOGOTÁ – After months of changes to its launch schedule, […]

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ACOTUR: Tourism as an Instrument of Regional Recovery

By Richard Emblin -

As Popayán prepares to host the VIII ACOTUR Sustainable Tourism Summit, Cauca is seeking to turn its extraordinary agricultural biodiversity, cultural heritage and nature-based tourism potential into an engine for rural development, international investment and economic opportunity. POPAYÁN — For a department that has endured decades of armed conflict, displacement and economic marginalization, the prospect […]

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Airbus explores investment to develop Colombia’s aviation sector

By Richard Emblin -

The Toulouse-based aircraft manufacturer will send representatives to Bogotá next week as the De la Espriella government looks to attract industrial investment and strengthen the country’s role in aviation. BOGOTÁ — Colombia is seeking a place in the global aerospace supply chain as Airbus prepares to explore investment opportunities in the country, opening discussions that […]

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Truck Bomb Explodes Near Patía on Colombia’s Pan-American Highway

By The City Paper Staff -

An explosives-laden dump truck targeting a police substation in El Estrecho, southwest Cauca, was detonated before security forces could intercept it, resulting in one victim, six injured and damaging nearby homes and businesses. POPAYÁN – An explosives-laden dump truck exploded Wednesday morning near a police substation in El Estrecho, municipality of Patía, in Colombia’s southwest  […]

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Why Does the Earth Keep Shaking in Chaparral, Tolima?

By Richard Emblin -

An unusual seismic swarm in the central lowlands of Colombia has produced more than 1,400 recorded earthquakes since September. A magnitude 5.6 tremor on Tuesday morning, felt as far away as Bogotá, has renewed questions about the geological forces beneath Tolima. BOGOTÁ — It was a sudden wake-up call for Bogotá when, at 4:13 a.m. […]

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De la Espriella Renews Military Offensive Against Dissidents After Planadas Bombing

By The City Paper Staff -

Colombia’s Abelardo de la Espriella has vowed to intensify airstrikes, special operations and aerial coca eradication following a wave of terror attacks across Tolima, Huila and Cauca that left civilians dead, including a two-month-old baby. President Abelardo de la Espriella announced Monday that he will intensify Colombia’s military offensive against illegal armed groups following a […]

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British National Arrested with Silenced Pistol in Medellín’s Parque Lleras

By The City Paper Staff -

Leigh Simon Elston, 38, was carrying a CZ handgun, a silencer and 24 rounds of ammunition when police stopped him in the city’s main nightlife district of El Poblado. Mayor Federico Gutiérrez says security operations will continue. MEDELLÍN — A 38-year-old UK national wanted by police in Wales was arrested in Medellín after officers discovered […]

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De la Espriella orders temporary militarization of Cúcuta

By Richard Emblin -

The temporary deployment of the Army in Norte de Santander’s capital follows the assassination of a former senior municipal official and a series of bomb attacks, as the government confronts expanding criminal networks along the Venezuelan border. President Abelardo de la Espriella has ordered the temporary militarization of Cúcuta, the capital of Norte de Santander, […]

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De la Espriella Takes His Crime Crackdown to Bogotá With 172 Arrests

By The City Paper Staff -

The President’s personal involvement in high-profile police raids, his pledge to govern from within Colombia and proposal for military control in southern Bogotá is putting a hardline security strategy to the test. President Abelardo de la Espriella took his escalating campaign against urban crime to Bogotá on Wednesday, personally accompanying security forces during Operation Kratos, […]

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Bogotá Moves to Curb Halloween Violence One year After Moreno Death

By Richard Emblin -

Mayor Carlos Fernando Galán’s administration is reintroducing nighttime motorcycle restrictions and deploying more than 400 District personnel as the capital prepares for Halloween, days after two men were sentenced for the killing of the 20-year-old university student in Chapinero. As Bogotá prepares for another Halloween weekend, the death of university student Jaime Esteban Moreno casts […]

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Colombia’s De la Espriella Leads Medellín Crime Crackdown

By The City Paper Staff -

President Abelardo de la Espriella personally accompanied a major security operation in Medellín overnight on Monday, as police, military personnel and prosecutors carried out coordinated raids targeting criminal networks accused of involvement in homicide, extortion, theft and drug trafficking. The operation, which extended into the early hours of Tuesday, October 27, initially produced a reported […]

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Deicy Jiménez Alleges Sex-for-Contracts Network Under Petro

By The City Paper Staff -

Photographs of cash, suspected drugs and clothing, alongside reported government contracts worth more than COP$100 million, have intensified allegations that public resources were used to facilitate Petro’s private encounters. The ex-President denies exchanging contracts for intimate favours. The allegations surrounding Gustavo Petro’s presidency have taken a disturbing turn. A young woman, identified as Deicy Jiménez, […]

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Eva Ferrer to Take Allegations Against Verónica Alcocer to US Authorities

By The City Paper Staff -

Former presidential adviser Eva Ferrer is preparing to travel to Washington next week to present allegations concerning former Colombian First Lady Verónica Alcocer to US authorities, potentially moving a politically-charged scandal  beyond Colombia’s borders. Ferrer, a Spanish-Colombian senior aide who worked closely with Alcocer during Gustavo Petro’s presidency, is expected to meet officials from the […]

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Germán Vargas Lleras Family to Denounce Petro Over ‘Valledupar Pact’

By The City Paper Staff -

The controversy surrounding the alleged Pacto de Valledupar escalated on Wednesday after Enrique Vargas Lleras, co-director of the Cambio Radical party, announced plans to file a complaint against former president Gustavo Petro over allegations that his administration sought to persuade former paramilitary commanders to make accusations against political opponents. Vargas Lleras, the brother of the […]

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Thirteen Colombian Soldiers Remain Stranded in Cauca After Black Hawk Crash

By Richard Emblin -

Rescue efforts continue in rugged terrain near Inzá, Cauca, where difficult weather conditions have delayed the evacuation of 13 Army personnel following the October 19 helicopter crash. INZA – Thirteen Colombian Army soldiers remain stranded near the site of a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crash in the mountainous municipality of Inzá, Cauca, on Wednesday, October […]

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Colombia Seizes 7.6 Tonnes of Cocaine in Cartagena’s Biggest Port Bust

By The City Paper Staff -

Colombian authorities seized on Tuesday, October 20, close to 8 tonnes of cocaine hidden inside a shipping container at the Port of Cartagena, in an operation described by the Presidency as the largest drug seizure at the Sociedad Portuaria in the past decade. The operation was carried out by Colombia’s National Police through its Anti-Narcotics […]

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