Uber reactivated its taxi app in Colombia on Thursday, three weeks after suspending its services. In order to comply with the law until Congress regulates taxi apps, users are asked to agree to a formal contract with the driver, hiring their services directly. The app itself “will be the contact point that connects the two […]
While officially a free market democracy, Colombia’s state system and economy are rigged by “clans” that are largely above the law. These clans’ ability to almost usurp the country’s democracy and economy most recently became evident by detailed allegations by fugitive politician Aida Merlano, a former member of the Gerlein Clan. Merlano’s account of how, […]
Colombia’s ruling party made it clear why the security forces allowed ELN guerrillas to carry out a military offensive but cracked down on peaceful protests. I was already wondering why President Ivan Duque used counterinsurgency tactics to suppress peaceful protests in November last year, but went on a “spiritual retreat” in the middle of the […]
Indigenous communities from southwest Colombia again rang the alarm after three members of the Nasa nation were assassinated and one was injured in two attacks by heavily armed men. The first attack took place on Saturday when armed men entered an indigenous reserve in Buenos Aires, Cauca, and shot dead one of the community members. […]
President Ivan Duque and the ELN guerrilla group have so much in common and are so interdependent they should marry each other. Both Duque and the ELN are typical products of Colombia’s society and — despite futile ideological differences — have a lot in common; they share a passion for war and Cold War nostalgia, […]
While Colombia’s national media relayed President Ivan Duque‘s opinion about ELN guerrillas, local journalists are putting their lives on the line to inform on the ongoing rebel onslaught on their communities. These local journalists are left to themselves as Wilfer Moreno, the director of local television network CNC Arauca from the rebel-controlled northeast of the […]
Colombia’s foreign minister said Thursday that it had formally asked Venezuela’s opposition to extradite a fugitive coalition politician who is held by the neighboring country’s authorities. The extradition request for fugitive Conservative Party politician Aida Merlano was filed with the Bogota envoy of “the legitimate government of President Juan Guaido” instead of the government of […]
Colombia’s President Ivan Duque warned ELN rebels that “Colombia is stronger than ever” on Wednesday while being scorned for using the presidential aircraft for his daughter’s birthday party over the weekend. The president did not announce exact measures to counter the impending showdown with the 55-year-old guerrilla group, who announced a national transport shutdown between […]
Colombia’s war crimes tribunal began hearing retired General Mario Montoya, the country’s former army commander, about his allegedly leading role in the mass killing of civilians on Wednesday. The highly anticipated hearing was held behind closed doors as the man accused of being one of the masterminds behind the systematic execution of thousands of civilians […]
Police in Colombia’s capital Bogota detained almost 12,000 people during last year’s anti-government protests “to criminalize” them, according to a human rights NGO. During a debate about the police’s abuse of power, the NGO showed the Bogota city council police statistics demonstrating that 11,903 were detained during the protests between November 21 and December 22 […]