Latest News

Bogotá: “Criminal structures” behind Congress of the Peoples protest

By The City Paper Staff - October 16, 2025

A wave of coordinated protests and building occupations by the social movement known as the “Congress of the Peoples” has raised alarms in Bogotá this week, after Interior Minister Armando Benedetti claimed that “criminal structures” are behind the unrest, pointing to alleged infiltration by armed groups, most notably the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla. The […]

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Terror Attacks Across Colombia Kill 19, Injure 70 in Cali and Antioquia

By The City Paper Staff - August 21, 2025

At least eleven people are dead in Colombia after FARC dissidents detonated a truck bomb outside an air force base in Cali and shot down a police helicopter in Antioquia, in one of the deadliest days of recent violence.

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Mass Grave in Guaviare Confirms Execution of Church Group by FARC Dissidents

By The City Paper Staff - July 2, 2025

Colombian authorities have uncovered a mass grave in Guaviare containing the bodies of eight evangelical church members abducted in April. Prosecutors say FARC dissidents executed the victims for being from Arauca. The massacre, Colombia’s deadliest of 2025, underscores rising violence and the failure of state presence in remote regions.

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Petro to announce security measures as Gulf Clan escalates violence across Colombia

By The City Paper Staff - May 5, 2025

Colombian President Gustavo Petro will announce new security measures after 27 soldiers and police were killed by the Gulf Clan. The attacks mark a sharp escalation in violence as the drugs trafficking cartel targets soldiers and police officers with “pistol plan”.

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Surge in gang violence threatens fragile peace in Colombia’s Buenaventura

By Richard Emblin - July 5, 2023

n a troubling development, the end of a fragile truce between Buenaventura’s two most powerful gangs shattered several months ago, has plunged Colombia’s largest port city into a state of violence insecurity.

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Colombians call for “Libertad y Orden” after Petro ends ceasefire with Gulf Clan

By The City Paper Staff - March 21, 2023

Colombians are taking to social media to demand “Freedom and Order” insignia of the national emblem after President Petro ended the ceasefire with the Gulf Clan cartel.

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Petro “insists on unilateral release” of 79 Colombian police hostage in Caguán

By Richard Emblin - March 3, 2023

Colombian President Gustavo Petro called on the Red Cross to provide humanitarian assistance to 79 policemen held hostage by the Indigenous Guard in San Vicente del Caguán.

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Bogotá’s Claudia López calls for citizens to reject Petro’s prisoner pardons

By The City Paper Staff - January 25, 2023

Mayor Claudia López has summoned all residents of Bogotá to sign an official petition directed at President Gustavo Petro, Minister of Justice Nestor Iván Osuna, and Congress, to stop the early release of 6,895 prisoners being held in district jails.

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Petro’s 100 days marked by deaths of 58 social leaders

By Richard Emblin - November 29, 2022

During Petro’s 100 days in office, 58 social leaders have been killed, and almost one-third of the total documented for 2022 by NGO Indepaz.

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Colombia sees highest per day COVID-19 death toll during “Bogotá siege”

By The City Paper Staff - June 10, 2021

The national strike’s “Bogotá seige” was perpetrated by 3,000 anti-government protestors and marred by further acts of senseless vandalism.

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Colombia’s AG confirms 43 homicides since start of Paro Nacional

By The City Paper Staff - May 24, 2021

According to Colombia’s Attorney General and Ombudsman, 17 persons have been killed in the Paro Nacional protests of 43 strike-related homicides.

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Strike leaders defiant on crippling Colombia during pandemic surge

By Richard Emblin - April 27, 2021

Despite Bogotá Mayor Claudia López prohibiting all gatherings and protests with the red alert, the Paro Nacional could affect tranquility in the capital for days.

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FARC’s kidnapping “error” overruled in historical legal verdict

By Richard Emblin - January 29, 2021

The historic indictment against FARC and its decades-old practice of kidnapping could open a path toward reconciliation. Yet for many victims, a formal apology can’t erase the trauma.

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January most violent month in Colombia since 2016 Peace Accord

By Richard Emblin - January 27, 2021

During their recent Assembly FARC’s representatives renamed their party Comunes to break with the past references of conflict as the country faces spiraling violence from dissidents.

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Gonzalo Cardona, guardian of Yellow-eared Parrot murdered in Colombia

By Richard Emblin - January 13, 2021

Gonzalo Cardona is credited for having saved the rare Yellow-eared Parrot from extinction and species whose survival depends on the wax palm.

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Police brutality in Bogotá flares violence leaving seven dead and 360 injured

By Richard Emblin - September 10, 2020

The death of Javier Ordoñez in police custody after being brutally tased has unleashed a wave of violence in Bogotá. Five civilians were killed during confrontations with security forces.

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