Latest News

Black-market will push Venezuela for bigger discounts following US oil tanker seizure

By The Conversation - December 15, 2025

The U.S. seizure of an oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast appears designed to further squeeze the economy of President Nicolás Maduro’s government. The Dec. 10, 2025 operation — in which American forces descended from helicopters onto the vessel — followed months of U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean and was immediately condemned by Venezuela […]

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

By The City Paper Staff - December 11, 2025

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 […]

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

By Richard Emblin - December 1, 2025

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 […]

EU Leaders Ditch Santa Marta Summit With U.S. Sanctions on Petro

By Richard Emblin - November 4, 2025

The upcoming EU-CELAC summit in Santa Marta, billed as Colombia’s most ambitious diplomatic event in over a decade, is now being reshaped by a cascade of cancellations from European leaders following U.S. sanctions against President Gustavo Petro. What was expected to unite more than 60 heads of state from Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean […]

U.S. Treasury Puts Colombia’s Petro and Close Circle on ‘Clinton List’

By The City Paper Staff - October 24, 2025

The U.S. Government moved aggressively against Colombian President Gustavo Petro and his inner circle on Friday, imposing sanctions that target his financial and political support network as relations between Washington and Bogotá struck a new low. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), also known as the Clinton List, designated Petro, First Lady […]

Colombia Court Overturns Uribe Conviction, Declares Ex-President Innocent

By Richard Emblin - October 21, 2025

Colombia’s Superior Tribunal of Bogotá has overturned the conviction of former president Álvaro Uribe Vélez, declaring him innocent of bribery and witness tampering in one of the country’s most divisive political trials in decades. The ruling by the tribunal’s Criminal Chamber revoked an earlier judgment by Bogotá’s 44th Circuit Court, which in August sentenced Uribe […]

Colombian Politicians React to Trump’s Tariff Threat and Aid Suspension

By Richard Emblin - October 20, 2025

U.S President Donald Trump triggered a political firestorm in Colombia after announcing on his social media platform – Truth Social – the immediate suspension of all financial aid and imposition of punitive tariffs on Colombian exports. The decision came after he branded President Gustavo Petro an “illegal drug leader.” Trump’s extraordinary statements mark one of […]

Trump Calls Colombia’s Petro an “Illegal Drug Leader,” Halts U.S. Aid

By The City Paper Staff - October 19, 2025

In an extraordinary escalation that threatens to end decades of strategic partnership, U.S. President Donald J. Trump on Sunday labeled Colombian President Gustavo Petro an “illegal drug leader” and announced the immediate suspension of U.S. financial aid to Colombia. Speaking from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and posting on his Truth Social platform, Trump accused […]

Venezuelan Activists Attacked in Bogotá During Targeted Shooting

By The City Paper Staff - October 14, 2025

Two Venezuelan human rights activists living in exile in Colombia were wounded in a targeted shooting on Monday afternoon in northern Bogotá, an attack that has renewed fears over the safety of political dissidents in the country. The assault took place just days after Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the 2025 Nobel […]

Nobel Prize: Machado “keeps the flame of democracy burning”

By Richard Emblin - October 10, 2025

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced on Friday, recognizing her “tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela” and her “struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.” Machado, 58, is the first Venezuelan to receive […]

Bogotá braces for pro-Palestine marches October 7, U.S Embassy closes

By Richard Emblin - October 7, 2025

The 21st century has witnessed many days of infamy, but among the most horrific was October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a coordinated assault on southern Israel. More than 1,200 people were killed, including 38 children, and 251 civilians were kidnapped – among them young men and women attending the Nova music festival. Families were […]

Medellín’s Gutiérrez clamps down on transnational mafias, bolsters U.S. ties

By The City Paper Staff - October 1, 2025

Medellín mayor Federico “Fico” Gutiérrez launched a crackdown on transnational mafias operating in Parque Lleras, vowing the city “will not be a refuge” for crime. He also met U.S. envoy John McNamara, strengthening security and trade ties as Colombia’s national government faces strained relations with Washington.

Senior cabinet members have been barred from U.S. after Petro’s defiant rally near Times Square, New York. Photo: X/MinCultura.

Mass visa revocations strip Petro’s cabinet of access to U.S

By Richard Emblin - September 30, 2025

Colombia’s confrontation with Washington escalated after the United States revoked President Gustavo Petro’s visa over incendiary remarks in New York, prompting key ministers to declare they would forfeit their own visas and leaving much of the government without the possibility of entering the United States.

Petro Implodes U.S-Colombia Relations With Final UN Speech

By Richard Emblin - September 24, 2025

Colombian President Gustavo Petro detonated relations with Washington in a blistering UN speech, accusing Donald Trump of genocide, calling for his prosecution, and likening the U.S. to Nazi Germany. The U.S. delegation exited the chamber as Petro urged the world to form an armed coalition to liberate Gaza.

Maduro Seeks Dialogue with U.S, Petro Sidelined at UN

By Richard Emblin - September 22, 2025

Colombia’s Gustavo Petro is in New York ahead of the United Nation’s General Assembly. Petro trip to the U.S comes as Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro seeks to engage the Trump administration in dialogue, despite the military arsenal targeting drug boats in the Caribbean.

Petro lashes out at Trump after U.S. decertifies Colombia on drug fight

By Richard Emblin - September 18, 2025

Colombia’s Gustavo Petro lashed out at U.S. President Donald Trump after Washington decertified Colombia’s anti-drug efforts, calling the move an “injustice.” Petro defended record cocaine seizures, vowed not to extradite three traffickers engaged in peace talks, and accused the U.S. of a failed, decades-long drug policy.