Monday, February 9, 2026

Latest News

Petro–Trump Phone Call Defuses U.S.–Colombia Tensions

By The City Paper Staff -

It was a frustrating night for the roughly 6,000 supporters gathered in Bogotá’s Plaza de Bolívar to hear President Gustavo Petro deliver what many expected to be a fiery, anti-imperialist address. After waiting for hours in cold, rainy conditions, demonstrators waved placards reading “Yankee Go Home,” “Out Trump,” and “Respect Colombia,” anticipating a confrontational speech […]

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Petro Calls Colombians to the Streets After Trump Raises Military Option

By The City Paper Staff -

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has called on supporters to mobilise nationwide on Wednesday to defend “national sovereignty,” sharply escalating a diplomatic crisis with the United States after President Donald Trump said a U.S. military operation against Colombia “sounds good” to him. The demonstrations are expected to take place in Bogotá’s Plaza de Bolívar, Parque Lourdes […]

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Trump floats U.S. military action against Colombia after Maduro capture

By The City Paper Staff -

U.S. President Donald Trump escalated rhetoric toward Colombia on Sunday, suggesting that a U.S. military operation against the country — which he said could be dubbed “Operation Colombia” — was a possibility following Washington’s capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump described Colombian President Gustavo Petro as “a […]

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Trump: U.S. partnership to make Venezuelans “rich, independent and safe”

By Richard Emblin -

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the United States would “run” Venezuela until a “safe, proper and judicious transition” of power is completed, following a U.S. military operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Speaking at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago residence in […]

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Trump praises “brilliant” military operation against Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro

By Richard Emblin -

U.S. President Donald Trump has hailed as “brilliant” the U.S. military operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, as explosions were reported in Caracas early Saturday. Governments across the Americas and Europe are reacting to the arrest of the Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. In a brief telephone interview with […]

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BREAKING: Venezuela’s Maduro captured after U.S strikes Caracas

By The City Paper Staff -

The United States has captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, along with his wife Cilia Flores, after a series of targeted military strikes on Caracas at 1:30 am on Saturday, January 3, 2026. In a statement posted on his Truth Social platform, U.S President Donald J. Trump said U.S. forces, working with U.S. law enforcement, conducted […]

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Colombia’s 23.7% Minimum Wage Hike, Stirs Inflation and Informality Fears

By The City Paper Staff -

Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Monday decreed a 23.7% increase in the country’s minimum wage for 2026, the largest real rise in at least two decades, bypassing negotiations with unions and business groups and sparking warnings from economists, bankers and employers over inflation, job losses and rising informality. The decree lifts the monthly minimum wage […]

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The New Monroe Doctrine: U.S. Recasts Latin America as Security Priority

By Luis Guillermo Plata -

Why such a massive U.S. military deployment off the coast of Venezuela, supposedly to combat the “Cartel of the Suns” and stop drug trafficking from Venezuela to the United States? After more than four months, the results amount to little more than a handful of small vessels destroyed – an extremely modest impact given the […]

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Colombia’s Petro Calls Chile’s President-Elect José Kast a “Nazi”

By The City Paper Staff -

Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, triggered yet another diplomatic rupture in South America on Sunday after denouncing Chile’s president-elect, José Antonio Kast, as a “Nazi,” rejecting the legitimacy of Chile’s democratic choice and sharply diverging from the cautious language typically observed between regional leaders. Petro’s remarks came within hours of Kast’s decisive victory in Chile’s presidential […]

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Colombia’s FM Snubs Machado’s Nobel Peace Prize After Daring Escape

By The City Paper Staff -

Colombia’s Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio declared Thursday that the Government of President Gustavo Petro is “not in agreement” with the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado – a position that signals how Colombia remains a close ideological ally of one of the hemisphere’s most authoritarian states. In remarks that were […]

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Colombia records 40,663 murders under Petro, surpassing Santos and Duque

By The City Paper Staff -

Colombia has recorded 40,663 homicides during the first three years of President Gustavo Petro’s government, surpassing the totals reported under the administrations of Iván Duque and Juan Manuel Santos, according to a report published Tuesday by the Centro de Paz y Seguridad of Universidad Externado. The report documents killings between August 2022 and August 2025, […]

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Álvaro Clavijo Wins 2025 Best Restaurant in Latin America with El Chato

By The City Paper Staff -

Before he became Latin America’s most celebrated chef, Álvaro Clavijo spent years doing what few aspiring cooks romantically imagine: scrubbing plates in the basements of Parisian kitchens. He had left Bogotá after a brief, unsatisfying year studying architecture at Los Andes University. In Paris he dabbled in photography, learned impeccable French, and quickly discovered that […]

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Ex-Spychief Hugo Carvajal Warns U.S of Maduro’s “Narco-Terrorist” Regime

By The City Paper Staff -

Hugo Carvajal Barrios, the former Venezuelan intelligence chief known as “El Pollo,” has issued an explosive letter from a U.S. federal prison alleging that Nicolás Maduro’s government systematically used drug trafficking, criminal gangs, espionage networks, and even electoral technology as tools to undermine the United States. The 10-page statement, addressed to “President Trump and the […]

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Colombia’s Avianca Close to Completing A320 Software Update

By The City Paper Staff -

Colombia’s Transport Minister María Fernanda Rojas said on Monday that Avianca is close to completing mandatory software updates on its Airbus A320 fleet, with only 19 aircraft still pending intervention after a week of global disruptions triggered by what aviation experts describe as the largest recall in Airbus’s 55-year history. The grounding forced airlines across […]

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Hard-Left Candidate Iván Cepeda Leads Poll for Colombia’s 2026 Election

By Richard Emblin -

Senator Iván Cepeda of the ruling Historic Pact coalition has emerged as the early front-runner in Colombia’s 2026 presidential race, according to a nationwide Invamer poll released Sunday by Caracol TV and Blu Radio. The survey – the first major measurement since the lifting of Colombia’s recent polling restrictions – places the left-wing candidate at […]

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Avianca Grounds Most of Its A320 Fleet After Airbus Issues Safety Alert

By The City Paper Staff -

Colombia’s flagship carrier, Avianca, announced Friday it has grounded more than 70% of its Airbus A320 fleet after the European manufacturer issued an urgent global bulletin ordering operators to carry out immediate software updates to prevent potential flight-control failures. The disruption, one of the most severe to hit the airline in years, comes as Airbus […]

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