MiamiHerald.com: Colombia

Colombia’s FARC suspends hostage release

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:43 EST

Guerrillas suspended the release of six hostages and were accused of a lethal bombing in the Colombian port town of Tumaco.

Last of seven fake cheerleaders from Colombia sentenced in Miami

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 22:14 EST

Nine adults and seven juveniles, posing as a visiting cheerleading team from Colombia, have little to cheer about now.

Study shows shrinking power of Colombian cocaine trade

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:07 EST

Drug trade isn’t the economic driver many suspected, according to the report.

Colombian FARC hostage describes narrow escape

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:02 EST

In one of his first interviews since escaping from Colombia’s rebels after 12 years, Luis Alberto Erazo described his narrow escape.

Miami federal lawsuit accuses Colombian warlord of murders in homeland

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 22:07 EST

A lawsuit filed in Miami federal court is the first in the nation to accuse a convicted Colombian paramilitary leader and drug trafficker of committing violent acts against people in his homeland.

Colombian ad campaign aimed at FARC child soldiers

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:13 EST

As Colombia keeps ratcheting up pressure on the FARC guerrillas, it’s rolling out a new ad campaign designed to stem the flow of child recruits.

A long mission to ‘Mars’ for Colombian man

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 08:58 EDT

While the future of U.S. manned space flight in doubt, one Colombian is coming back from ‘Mars.’

Tensions linger between Colombia and Ecuador

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:19 EDT

Ecuador today will begin imposing stiff tariffs on hundreds of Colombian imports, the latest round in a festering dispute between the neighbors.

Ecuadoran town a hub for drug-running rebels, Colombia says

Wed, 20 May 2009 08:06 EDT

Authorities in neighboring Colombia contend that the Ecuadorean border town of Puerto Nuevo is the thriving nerve center for an elite Colombian rebel unit that helps keep a 44-year-old insurgency alive by trafficking cocaine through Ecuador's ports.

Colombian blogs use acid humor to reflect polarization

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 21:50 EDT

Whether they criticize President Uribe or his opponents, bloggers from Bogotá and other cities employ irreverent humor—borrowing from the British and Argentine traditions—to illustrate Colombia's political tensions. “Behind the liberty that their pseudonyms give them, (the bloggers) loosen the reins of their political passions," the weekly magazine Semana says.

A key to Colombia peace: Reintegrating ex-fighters

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:51 EDT

Programs that help former FARC rebels and paramilitary troops reenter society is seen as crucial to the nation's long-term peace. The U.S. is on board, checkbook in hand.

Colombian drugs behind Guinea-Bissau murders?

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 11:30 EST

The murder of the president and the Army chief on Monday raises questions about the nature of the instability in the African nation.

Mexican student visited other FARC camps (Spanish)

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 11:32 EST

El ex director de Inteligencia del Ejército ecuatoriano Mario Pazmiño confirmó hoy a Efe que informes y fotografías que señalaban la presencia de la estudiante mexicana Lucía Morett en varios campamentos de las FARC el año pasado están documentados en la Dirección de Inteligencia Militar.

Colombia is asked to probe slayings of Indians in Narino state

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 14:14 EST

Human rights groups Tuesday called on the Colombian government to investigate the disappearance and slayings of members of an indigenous community in southwestern Colombia.

Shine is off FARC rebel army

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 09:20 EST

Colombian military officials say the 20% increase in FARC desertions last year from the 2007 level is compelling evidence of their increasing battlefield dominance over the FARC, which the military has been fighting for more than 40 years.

Q & A with Colombian Defense Minister

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:04 EST

Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos will meet with Barack Obama soon after inauguration to try to persuade him to continue Plan Colombia, the $556-million-a-year U.S. aid plan. He discusses the case he will make.

Turmoil, violence constant in Colombian cocaine hub

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 14:39 EST

Renowned as Colombia's most violent city, Buenaventura is on the front line of Colombia's drug war, a choke point for lucrative cocaine smuggling routes up the Pacific Coast.

Colombia rebels wield power inside Venezuela

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 22:37 EST

This sweltering market town on Venezuela's southwestern frontier has its own mayor, council and police force. It also has a parallel government of sorts - a group of Communist guerrillas from the neighboring country of Colombia.

Ground crews a bigger part of Colombia's cocaine battle

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:21 EST

Aerial spraying is still the preferred method of coca eradication in Colombia, but the use of manual laborers is expanding. Many take the dangerous job because of good wages; some have more personal reasons.

Colombia inches toward justice in paramilitary killings

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 10:57 EST

For months the sometimes headless bodies, cut up by chain-saws, washed up on the banks of the muddy Cauca River.