Latest News

Tropical storms batter Colombia’s Caribbean coast, flooding tens of thousands of homes

By Richard Emblin - February 4, 2026

Powerful storm surges and weeks of unusually intense rainfall have triggered widespread flooding across Colombia’s Caribbean coast, affecting more than 50,000 families, damaging homes and infrastructure, and placing hundreds of thousands of livestock at risk, authorities said. The floods have hit the Magdalena River basin and large swathes of northern Colombia, forcing beach closures in […]

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US Hits Seventh Narco-Boat Off Colombia, Blurring Lines Between Ally and Adversary

By The City Paper Staff - November 5, 2025

The United States carried out its seventh missile strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in the Eastern Pacific near Colombia on Tuesday, the latest in a rapidly expanding maritime campaign that has killed at least 67 people and is drawing Colombia into the same operational battlefield long reserved for President Nicolás Maduro’s Venezuela. In a […]

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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 […]

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Respected Italian biologist Alessandro Coatti found dismembered near Santa Marta

By Richard Emblin - April 9, 2025

Italian molecular biologist Alessandro Coatti, 42, was found dismembered near Santa Marta, Colombia, after traveling through South America. A former senior officer at the UK’s Royal Society of Biology, his death is being investigated for possible links to illegal armed groups operating in the Sierra Nevada.

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Colombia’s Ministry of Culture faces backlash over 500th anniversary of Santa Marta’s founding

By Richard Emblin - September 6, 2024

Colombia’s Ministry of Culture faces a backlash after downplaying Santa Marta’s 500th anniversary. Local leaders, including the mayor and the Academy of History of Magdalena, criticized Minister Juan David Correa for dismissing the event’s national significance.

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Boat tragedy off Colombia claims life of experienced Swedish captain

By Richard Emblin - February 23, 2024

Experienced Swedish sea captain, Ulf Magnus Reslow, loses life in a tragic boat incident off the Colombian coast after unauthorized departure from Santa Marta, authorities investigating potential link to financial struggles after pirate attacks.

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Why Israeli tourists should reconsider travel to Colombia

By Timothy Langham - October 12, 2023

Gustavo Petro’s polarizing rhetoric and failure to condemn the October 7 terror attack by Hamas against Israel, should make Israeli tourists reconsider Colombia as a preferred travel destination.

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United for Wildlife launches Latin America Chapter in Santa Marta

By The City Paper Staff - July 28, 2023

The launch of United for Wildlife’s Latin America chapter in Santa Marta, Colombia, included the release of endangered marine species back to their natural habitat.

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Santa Marta, Colombia’s most expensive city for cost of living

By The City Paper Staff - January 14, 2022

The consumer price index for December 2021 was highest in the coastal city of Santa Marta, almost double the national average.

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Crocodile catches vacationers in Tayrona National Park by surprise

By The City Paper Staff - January 16, 2019

Vacationers on Cañaveral beach in PNN Tayrona came into contact with a large crocodile as it headed from mangrove to seashore.

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ANATO to promote post-conflict destinations as Colombia receives record numbers of tourists

By The City Paper Staff - February 19, 2018

The country’s largest travel fair Vitrina Turística ANATO opens Thursday with over 2,000 exhibitors and at a time as the country receives record numbers of visitors.

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Taking the plunge to live in Santa Marta. How much for priceless sunsets?

By Jacqueline de Klerk - October 18, 2017

Feel like trading in stressful Bogota? for a place in the sun? Santa Marta may be within your budget with sunsets included.

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Colombia’s beaches work for ‘Blue Flags’ eco-label certification

By The City Paper Staff - October 15, 2017

Colombia has 195 beaches that could potentially qualify for the ‘Blue Flag’ eco-designation. A pre-pilot program is underway.

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Four days at the heart of Colombia’s Lost City

By Sofia Phillips - October 8, 2017

A trek to the Lost City is an obligatory part of the Colombian “adventure,” but the human footprint must respect ancestral ways and the pristine nature.

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Minca: Ultimate getaway in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta

By John Lundin - July 21, 2017

Minca, in the hills above Santa Marta, has positioned itself as an obligatory destination on the travel circuit of the coast. Here, an insider’s guide to this tropical hideaway.

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Following Green Tourism in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta

By Jacqueline de Klerk - June 24, 2017

After an extra-terrestrial walk into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, hikers can enjoy a day of picking tropical fruit on a farm catering to green tourism.

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