Bogotá, Colombia – Leftist presidential candidate Iván Cepeda challenged his opponents to a debate on Saturday after turning down previous proposals to face-off with his rivals.

“I challenge the far right, its two candidates – Senator Paloma Valencia and lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella – to a debate,” Cepeda told a crowd at a rally in Fusagasugá, a city near Bogotá. 

His opponents responded by accepting the proposal, while also highlighting that they had been calling for a debate for months.

The possibility of a live face-off between candidates has been a recurring theme ahead of first-round presidential elections on May 31.

Shortly after beginning his candidacy last year, Cepeda dismissed the idea of participating in a debate: “I’m not going to take part in debates—let me make this clear from the outset—to exchange insults with other candidates, or to threaten one another, or to denigrate one another.”

Cepeda’s rivals have repeatedly criticized him for refusing to spar with them on the public stage, something they highlighted following the leftist candidate’s U-turn on Saturday.

“Allow me to correct you: you’re not issuing a challenge; you’re accepting the challenge you were invited to take up months ago,” said criminal defense attorney de la Espriella.

Valencia, the candidate for the Centro Democrático (Democratic Center) party, also seized the opportunity to pounce on Cepeda: “A few weeks ago, it was I who challenged Iván Cepeda several times to a face-to-face debate, yet you chose to hide away in the Senate with a controlled microphone.”

She suggested that Cepeda’s U-turn owes to a worsening performance in recent polls: “Now that the polls are tightening, you’re coming out of Fusagasugá with this challenge.”

Analysts agreed with Valencia’s suggestion, saying that Cepeda’s debate proposal is an attempt to inject life into a stagnating campaign. 

“Cepeda has offered to debate because of his campaign’s inherent lack of momentum and general weakness. He is not captivating any new voters or finding a tangible way of changing the narrative in his favor,” Sergio Guzmán, Director at Colombia Risk Analysis, a political risk consultancy, told Latin America Reports. 

Internal party polls reportedly show sluggish growth in Cepeda’s polling numbers since he became the official candidate for the Pacto Histórico (Historic Pact) in October. 

Meanwhile, Valencia has been soaring in the polls following her victory in presidential primaries in March; Cepeda and de la Espriella did not partake.

But the debate is not without risk for Cepeda, according to Guzmán: “Cepeda runs the risk of having to go on the defensive of Petro and his administration.”

Others believe that Cepeda’s oratory style does not lend itself to the televised debate format.

“He has a much more academic tendency, which is not so typical in politics, let alone in modern politics,” noted Miguel Jaramillo Luján, a Colombian political strategist. In contrast, he noted that de la Espriella and Valencia have a more media-savvy communication style.

Nevertheless, the analyst told Latin America Reports that Cepeda’s debate style could give him the chance to woo crucial centrist voters: “I believe he can inspire confidence and credibility among his target audience and even among the centre, particularly when it comes to dispelling certain myths and lies that have been spread by the centre and the right.”

With the leading candidates agreeing to debate, the battle over the specifics – including moderators, questions, and location – begins. 

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Presidential spat intensifies after Ecuadorian leader revisits old rumors that Petro met with drug gang during state visit.

President Petro says he will sue Daniel Noboa over an interview in which the Ecuadorian president accused his Colombian counterpart of associating with feared drug baron Adolfo Macías Villamar, alias ‘Fito’, during a state visit to Ecuador.

“I have decided to file a criminal complaint against President Noboa for his slander,” wrote Petro on his X account, following statements made by Ecuador’s leader to Semana News.

In Sunday’s interview Noboa made references to Petro’s visit to Ecuador in May, 2025, as part of a state visit to attend the right-wing president’s own inauguration.

After the event Petro took a three-day visit to the coastal city of Manta to rest and write his book, the Colombian president later explained.

But this hiatus from the public eye – Petro is rarely out of the spotlight – and his choice of destination sparked rumors that the Colombian president was holding secret meetings with underworld figures. Manta is both a tourist destination with Pacific beaches and the ground zero for violent armed gangs that control Ecuador’s drug trafficking.

Rumors started with unfounded comments by Ecuadorian politicians that Petro was “holed up” in a luxury house on the coast, adding tantalizing details that officials “could not confirm or deny” that Fito or persons related to the gang leader were present.

“What we know is that Gustavo Petro was in Manta inside a house for his entire stay. We can’t confirm whether Fito was there. It’s been said that certain political figures were with him,” Ecuador’s Interior Minister John Reimberg stated to news media at the time.

“He arrived at a luxury house and stayed there for two days. He never left, not even to eat. He was locked inside. I can’t say who he met with.”

Manta on his mind

Noboa reinforced the slurs this week, stating without evidence that the house rented in Manta was “directly or indirectly linked to drug trafficking”.

The Colombian president “never has any real explanations for his actions”, pressed Noboa, suggesting the book writing was a cover for more suspicious motives. But he failed to provide any motive as to why Petro would want to meet with Fito or his associates from Los Choneros gang, Ecuador’s most violent armed group.

Fito has been likened to Mexico’s El Chapo, with a history of repeated prison breaks. The career criminal was re-arrested again in Manta in June last year – a month after Petro’s visit – hiding in a bunker, and has since been extradited to the U.S.

For his part, Petro hit back claiming the Ecuadorian president had been himself been well aware of his plans to holiday in Manta, a visit accompanied by the Ecuadorian army and a Colombian security detail. These and other witnesses could vouch for his book writing, he said.

“I don’t know if going anywhere in Ecuador raises suspicions of shady dealings. Manta is a beautiful place worth visiting.”

Petro stayed in a “wooden cabin with a sea view”, he said, and not the luxury condominium conjured up by Noboa.  

Petro linked Noboa’s verbal attacks on the recent trade war between Colombia and Ecuador and Petro’s request that Noboa released former Ecuadorian vice president Jorge Glas currently jailed for corruption.

See also: Ecuador doubles trade tariffs on Colombia to 100 per cent.

Both disputes have put relations between the two countries at rock bottom.

Behind those disagreements lie long-standing accusations by Ecuador that Colombia has exported violence and criminality over the shared border during Petro’s tenure, a claim supported by a recent report by Amazon Underworld.

Illegal drugs passing through Ecuador came mostly from Colombia, said the report, and Colombian armed groups like the Comandos de La Frontera had established a permanent presence on the Ecuadorian side of the border.

Political prisoner

The high tariffs imposed by Ecuador, which seem out of U.S. President Trump’s playbook, seem designed to punish Colombia for its internal security policies and Petro’s left-wing government at political poles from the Noboa administration.

The spat over Jorge Glas stems from the former vice-president’s jailing after being found guilty of corruption in public office.

Glas was VP to left-wing leader and former president Rafael Correa, and accused of corruption in contracting cases. In 2017 he was jailed for six years. After his release was again accused of fresh crimes related to corruption.

Faced with these new accusations, in 2024 the politician took refuge in the Mexican Embassy in Quito but was quickly captured by Ecuadorian state forces who violated international protocols by invading the protected site, creating a diplomatic crisis with Mexico.

For his part, Petro conferred Colombian citizenship on Glas, declared him a ‘political prisoner’, and demanded his extradition to Colombia. Meanwhile Petro has been highlighting the former VPs stark prison conditions on social media.

“Just as I demanded the freedom of political prisoners in Venezuela and Nicaragua, I believe that Jorge Glas should be released,” he wrote, angering Noboa who recalled his ambassador from Bogotá earlier this month.

The rift between the two leaders also widened after announcements of joint military operations between the U.S. and Ecuador, with tension mounting after an air bombardment of the border left an unexploded bomb on Colombian territory.

In Sunday’s message Petro alluded to coordinated plots by political opponents in Ecuador, Colombia and “the extreme right in Florida” to drag up dirt from his Mantra trip.

Events this week should clarify if Petro has grounds to sue his Ecuadorian counterpart in a court of law, or if the battle continues on social media.

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A plan to swap Colombian cocaine for guns was exposed last week when a Lebanese-Syrian smuggler Antoine Kassis – a cousin of deposed Syrian dictator Bashir al-Assad – faced trial for his attempt to send Russian-made armaments to ELN guerrillas.

The failed plot, which played out in a U.S. federal courtroom last week but seemed more suited to a Hollywood movie, risked putting military-grade weapons sourced from Syrian arsenals in the hands of the Colombian rebels.

In exchange, the ELN planned to send 500 kilos of cocaine disguised in a cargo container of Colombian fruit, according to U.S. Justice Department documents.

A federal jury convicted Antoine Kassis on charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy and conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization after a five day hearing. He now faces at least 20 years in a U.S. prison.

Kassis, 59, who had links to proscribed organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah, offered the ELN drones, grenades, assault rifles, missiles, mortars and heavy machine guns in exchange for the cocaine smuggled to a Syrian port.

He eventually hoped to sell the Colombian-supplied narcotics throughout the Middle East.

Captured in Kenya

The deal was initially brokered in 2024 before the fall of al-Assad but unraveled after a sting operation mounted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in 2025.

As court documents revealed, Kassis traveled to Africa in February last year after reassuring the Colombian guerrillas that the cocaine swap was still on – even after the unexpected fall of his cousin’s brutal dictatorship in Syria at the end of 2024.

Kassis claimed he could bribe Syrian port staff US$10,000 per kilo of cocaine to import the illicit drug through Latakia, a well-known route for drugs in and out of the eastern Mediterranean.

Despite the fall of al-Assad, he could still access “all the toys”, he told the Colombians, referring to the military-grade weapons.

Unknown to Kassis, DEA investigators had already infiltrated the Colombian end of the deal and sent an undercover agent posing as an ELN weapons expert to the crucial meeting in Nairobi, Kenya.

Kassis was arrested with the help of Kenyan police and extradited weeks later to the U.S.

Meanwhile the suspected ELN counterparts, named by news website Infobae as Alirio Rafael Quintero and Wisam Kherfan Okde, were arrested in Colombia. They are currently detained in Bogotá’s La Picota prison pending extradition requests from the U.S.

Missed missiles

Evidence from the Kassis investigation pointed to a vast money-laundering operation based in Colombia that shifted million-dollar drug profits in cryptocurrencies across four continents. According to court documents, the plot roped in Palestine’s Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel.

The Kassis case also showed that the ELN was attempting to upgrade its weapons arsenal even as the armed group was engaged in on-off peace negotiations with Colombia’s Petro government. Talks are currently on hold.

The Marxist rebel group, properly known as the Ejército de Liberación Nacional, has been fighting the Colombian state since 1964 and is currently said to have 3,600 armed combatants, many based in neighboring Venezuela where it controls drug routes and illegal mining camps.

The latest round of peace talks, under Petro’s controversial Paz Total initiative, has seen the ELN expand in both territory and numbers within Colombia, with an estimated growth of 9 per cent in the last two years. Attempts to obtain Russian-made weapons via Syria are likely linked to that expansion.

See also: Peace Plan has caused more conflict, says thinktank.

Of note was the missiles included in the thwarted Syrian cargo. Though exact details were not given in the court documents, these could refer the portable shoulder-fired anti-aircraft weapons, highly coveted by Colombia’s armed groups for their ability to down helicopters and small attack aircraft used by state forces against insurgent groups.

In recent months Colombian armed forces have returned to aerial bombing of suspected guerrilla camps, a controversial practice that risks killing or injuring civilians and children. Bombing campaigns against dissident FARC groups in Guaviare late last year left at least 15 minors dead, according to news reports from the time.

And on February 4 this year, an air attack ordered by President Petro on an ELN camp in the Catutumbo region left seven ELN fighters dead, with no reports of child victims.

The ELN have in the past experimented with home-made anti-aircraft missiles, such as found in a hidden cache in Cauca in 2018, and some of their combatants are thought to have been trained in the use of Russian-made Igla-S missiles, of which 5,000 are used by state forces in Venezuela.

Hezbollah’s Latin American hubs

The Kassis case highlighted links between Colombian armed groups and the Middle East that include designated terror groups such as Lebanon-based Hezbollah.

According to expert testimony at a U.S. senate caucus on narcotics in October last year, groups like Hezbollah received funds via drug trafficking and money laundering in Latin America, with hubs in Brazil, Paraguay, Venezuela and Colombia.

“Hezbollah capitalized on a combination of weak local governance, corruption, and the presence of sympathetic diaspora communities to create cells and recruit financial facilitators,” former treasury official Marshall Billingslea told the caucus in October last year.

Billingslea suggested that Hezbollah could source up to a third of its income from Latin America, and until recently had close links through its Iranian backers Venezuela, now in flux with the forced removal of former president Nicolás Maduro to the U.S. in January this year.

Hard pivot to Colombia

But while its Venezuelan ties were more often reported, the Lebanese Shi’ite group had also made inroads into Colombian crime circles with a long history of deals, such as cocaine shipments sent by the Oficina de Envigado cartel, and drugs-for-weapons swaps with the former FARC guerrillas, he said.

In 2016, U.S. prosecutors brought charges against a Hezbollah laundering ring based in Medellín, according to reports in the Miami Herald at the time. Funds were connected to jailed Mexican kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

Billingslea explained that groups like Hezbollah also saw Colombia as a refuge for foreign operatives who obtained fake passports and ID cards. Recent turmoil in the Middle East could stimulate armed groups there to increase their interests in countries like Colombia, he said.

 “Now, with their Lebanese infrastructure in shambles, and with robust financing from Iran again in doubt, I believe Hezbollah will make a hard pivot to Latin America and to the drug trade in particular.”

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On Wednesday, the Universidad de la Sabana and the National Federation of Departments (FND) hosted the Governors’ Summit, a rare event that convened almost all of the frontrunners in Colombia’s presidential race.

Paloma Valencia, Abelardo de la Espriella, Sergio Fajardo, Roy Barreras, and Claudia López fielded questions from regional authorities about how they planned to tackle problems in Colombia’s provinces.

While Iván Cepeda, the leftist favorite, was scheduled to attend, his team pulled out at the last minute, fuelling the candidate’s reputation for being media-shy.

Early on Wednesday morning, governors and their aides began filtering into the heavily policed event in Chía, a municipality north of Bogotá.

The FND selected questions from governors which were then posed to candidates by the two moderators: El Tiempo Director Andrés Mompotes and his counterpart at radio station La FM, Juan Lozano.

The main themes of the day were tackling insecurity and armed groups, investing in regional development, and mechanisms to improve provincial representation.

For some governors, the event was an opportunity to redress an acute crisis; Erasmo Zuleta, who heads the local government in Córdoba, used the forum to highlight the ongoing effects of disastrous floods which began earlier this year.

“The emergency didn’t pass, nor did the tragedy. The floodwaters receded, leaving behind widespread damage; they took lives, homes, crops, and material possessions,” Zuleta told The Bogotá Post.

“Now more than ever, we need greater solidarity to recover from the damage,” continued the Governor, in a bid for help from the national government.

Another recurring theme was prison reform, following a recent scandal over a concert that took place in the Itagüí prison in Antioquia.

Abelardo de la Espriella, the firebrand criminal defense attorney and right-wing frontrunner, used the opportunity to push his tough-on-crime proposal.

“In Colombia, there are no prisons—there are universities of crime,” said de la Espriella, who took aim at the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute (INPEC), which he described as “a den of thieves.”

The candidate added that Colombia should look to El Salvador to develop its incarceration model, praising dictator Nayib Bukele’s draconian mass imprisonment efforts that have dramatically reduced crime and drawn condemnation from rights’ groups.

Security, more broadly, was also high on the agenda, as Colombia grapples with a surge in violence related to illegal armed groups.

“Today we are living in the grip of insecurity. They want to drag us back into the abyss we thought we had left behind,” railed Paloma Valencia, the candidate for the right-wing Centro Democrático (Democratic Center) party. 

Fears of insecurity affecting democratic processes have overshadowed the elections, with the United Nations issuing a warning earlier this year that armed groups could disrupt the vote.

The Valle del Cauca department has been one of the most heavily affected by the armed conflict, with its capital, Cali, rocked by a wave of bomb attacks by rebel groups in the past year. 

But its Governor, Dilian Francisca Toro, offered reassurances in conversation with The Bogotá Post: “We ensure that in every municipality and across all regions, law enforcement is present so that we can have free, democratic elections where there is no restriction whatsoever on the ability to vote.”

Toro also cited the elections on March 8 as an example of the success of security planning: “In Valle del Cauca we really had very peaceful elections, and now, God willing, we will have them again.”

Amid the mounting threat by armed groups, candidates De la Espriella and Valencia vow an iron fist, using military force to crush rebel forces. They model themselves after former right-wing President Álvaro Uribe (2002-2010), who teamed up with the U.S. to launch a total war on the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). 

But leftist Iván Cepeda highlights the human rights abuses perpetrated by the government during that period, in which thousands of innocent civilians lost their lives. He proposes to continue the current administration’s Paz Total – or Total Peace – policy of negotiating with armed groups.

But Cepeda missed the opportunity to make his case to the public, fuelling criticism by his opponents.

De la Espriella has repeatedly called on Cepeda to agree to a debate, but the leftist candidate has yet to accept.

With less than two months before the May 31st election, there are increasingly few opportunities for the candidates to make their case before the public.

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Fracttal, a maintenance intelligence platform that built its name across Latin America before relocating its headquarters to Madrid, has acquired TCMAN — Spain’s leading computerised maintenance management software provider — in a deal that deepens its roots in the European market it has been courting for several years.

TCMAN is not a minor target; founded in 1997, it is the dominant player in Spain’s computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) sector, with a client list that includes Acciona, Eiffage, Sanitas, and Quirón, and more than 250 organisations using its GIM platform to manage critical infrastructure, industrial, and healthcare assets. 

For Fracttal, which manages over 20 million assets across 60 countries, the acquisition is less a technology play than a relationships play – three decades of trust with Spanish enterprise clients that would take years to replicate from scratch.

The deal follows Fracttal’s $35 million USD funding round announced in January 2026, and the company has moved quickly to deploy it. 

The strategic logic is clear: the global CMMS market is forecast to grow at 11.1% annually through 2030, reaching $2.41 billion, according to Grand View Research, driven by asset-intensive industries facing mounting pressure to reduce downtime and meet tightening safety regulations. 

McKinsey research has also found that AI-powered predictive maintenance can extend machine life by up to 40% and cut unplanned downtime by half – the value proposition Fracttal will now pitch to TCMAN’s existing base of enterprise clients.

That pitch will involve upgrading GIM with Fracttal’s AI, IoT, and analytics capabilities. Whether TCMAN’s clients, who are accustomed to a local specialist with decades of sector knowledge, will embrace a more technology-forward roadmap is the central execution question.

“Integrating TCMAN’s expertise with our platform strengthens our ability to continue developing intelligent maintenance solutions and deliver greater value to organisations managing complex and distributed assets,” said Raúl Peris, COO of Fracttal.

For TCMAN’s founder, the sale marks a natural evolution: “For over 30 years, we have helped companies in multiple sectors better manage their assets,” said Eloy Ortega. 

“Joining Fracttal allows us to expand the reach of our technology and continue evolving our solutions in a context where maintenance is increasingly strategic.”

Fracttal’s trajectory is itself a notable story for this region. The company grew out of Latin America – establishing operations in Chile, Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico before moving its headquarters to Madrid as it pushed into Europe. It now sits in the unusual position of being a Latin American-origin company acquiring a European incumbent on European soil, rather than the other way around. 

For a region more accustomed to being the target of international acquisitions than the source of them, that inversion is worth noting.

“Maintenance is a key ally in building a more sustainable, safe and efficient world,” said Christian Struve, CEO and co-founder. 

“This union allows us to accelerate that transformation, combining decades of industry experience with advanced technology and artificial intelligence.”

Featured image: Courtesy of Fracttal

Disclosure: This article mentions clients of an Espacio portfolio company.

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The dismantling of a major crime gang which operated in Bogotá caused controversy last week after it emerged its leader was declared a peace negotiator under President Petro’s controversial Paz Total, or Total Peace, plan.

National police rounded up 23 members of the La Mesa gang in simultaneous operations in Tolima, Cesar and Bogotá. According to police reports, the gang was involved in serious crimes across the capital since 2012, including drug trafficking and murders.

News of the arrests was tainted by the fact that under the Paz Total process – the Petro government’s wide-ranging negotiations with armed groups – gang leader Gustavo Adolfo Pérez Peña, alias El Montañero, had his arrest warrant suspended under his role as gestor de paz, or ‘peace facilitator’.

The kingpin’s release sparked a furious response from Bogotá mayor Carlos Galán, who accused Petro of undermining the city’s efforts to curb crime.

Hoy en Bogotá anunciamos que, gracias a la Dijín, a la Fiscalía y a la @PoliciaBogota, fueron capturados 23 miembros de la banda “El Mesa”, entre ellos 8 sicarios. Mientras tanto, el Gobierno Nacional nombra al cabecilla de esa banda como gestor de paz y le levantó la orden de… pic.twitter.com/qiSmSoHgh7

— Carlos F. Galán (@CarlosFGalan) April 6, 2026

“While in Bogotá,…the prosecutor’s office and the police, with the support of the Bogotá mayor’s office, are working to capture and dismantle a criminal gang dedicated to serious crimes, the national government appoints the leader of that gang as a peace facilitator and lifts the arrest warrant for him,” he railed.

The gang was also suspected of being behind last year’s gruesome killings where pieces of the bodies of victims were wrapped in plastic bags and dumped on the city’s highways.

A free pass for career criminals like Pérez Peña makes fighting crime “incredibly difficult,” added Galán.

Dodging a warrant

Details of La Mesa’s criminal activities released by the prosecutor’s office this week showed the gang originated in Bello, Antioquia, but spread to Bogotá in 2012.

Court documents reported in local news outlet El Colombiano paint Pérez Peña as a hardened criminal; he has been imprisoned four times, including for armed robbery, homicide and illegal possession of firearms, but was freed before serving his full sentences.

His rap sheet includes attacks on armored trucks, notably a cash heist in Bogotá in 2003 where a policeman was shot dead.

Pérez Peña’s most recent jailing was in 2019 when he was sentenced to eight years for conspiracy to commit a crime and illegal possession of firearms. It was during this stint that he was freed as a peace facilitator.

And even while the La Mesa gang has been rounded up this week with members facing multiple charges and long prison sentences, its leader and founder continues at liberty.

Get out of jail free?

Inclusion of criminal gangs in the Paz Total process has proved one of the thorniest aspects of Petro’s flagship policies and a political hot potato in the run-up to next month’s presidential elections.

Since its inception in 2022, the government’s peace negotiators have tried to include some of Colombia’s most embedded crime dynasties under the acronym Estructuras Armadas Organizadas del Crimen de Alto Impacto (EAOCAI).

This Paz Urbana, or urban peace, initiative is based on the reality that in Colombia today lines are blurred between organized armed groups and engrained criminal structures.  Much of its effort has focused on Antioquia’s Valle de Aburrá, around Medellín, where many crime gangs took root after the fragmentation of the 1980s cocaine cartels.

The president’s office recently declared the process a partial success, claiming that the nominated peace spokespersons – many feared capos with violent histories – were now in a dialogue process which could “prevent further violence and prevent the resurgence of these structures”.

Many critics have predicted that – similar to the Paz Total process with large guerrilla groups – criminal gangs will leverage the negotiations to their own interests to gain time and territory or a get-out-of-jail-free card.

This week Medellín’s mayor Fico Gutíerez welcomed a resolution by the attorney general’s office to overturn many of the 23 nominations of local crime bosses as peace facilitators.

“The resolution removes 16 criminals currently serving sentences for serious crimes from the program. Seven remain eligible for the benefit,” he posted on X.

He also echoed Galán’s complaint that hardened criminals were being included in the peace process. “It is unacceptable that the Petro government has asked the prosecutor’s office to lift the current arrest warrant for homicide.”

Peace as a right

Defenders of Petro’s agenda hit back reminding that Paz Urbana was part of a constitutional process protected by Colombian law.

“Peace is a right, not a political strategy,” said Isabel Zuleta, a senator and key player in the Paz Total process.

The senator, who represents the government at the negotiating table with representatives of criminal gangs, accused the media and politicians of misreporting the negotiations.

“For nearly three years, a serious path toward de-escalating urban violence in Medellín and the Aburrá Valley has been painstakingly forged. Today, that work is being exploited by right-wing sectors that prefer to sabotage urban peace rather than acknowledge progress that is not electorally advantageous to them,” she said.

Zuleta also pointed out suspension of arrest warrants for gang leaders seeking peace did not free them of responsibilities for crimes they committed, nor would it stop judicial investigations.   

Meanwhile, a mix-up between Petro’s government and Attorney General’s Office emerged over Antioquia’s urban peace process: 16 of the 23 capos named as peace negotiators were already in prison, so suspending their “arrest warrants” was nonsensical as they were already detained in the high-security Itagüí Prison.

“We truly never imagined that a request would be made to suspend arrest warrants for people already serving sentences,” chief prosecutor Luz Adriana Camargo told Caracol Radio.

Prison party

For this judicial – rather than political – reason, Camargo revoked the suspension orders for the 16 capos already doing time.

“We are talking about dialogues inside a prison with convicted individuals,” she said.

The Attorney General’s office also corrected widespread fake news – amplified by right-wing presidential candidates Paloma Valencia and Abelardo de la Espriella – that the 16 jailed crime chiefs would be freed as part of the Paz Urbana negotiations.

In fact, there were no plans to release the IItagüí peace facilitators, clarified Camargo’s office.

But in a further twist this week the government froze the peace talks in the Itagüí Prison after revelations that the jailed capos mounted an unauthorized vallenato concert by popular singer Nelson Velásquez, reportedly costing 500 million pesos (US$140,000).

Parranda con Nelson Velásquez en cárcel de Itagüí no fue autorizada: Inpec investiga 7 funcionarios #LoMásBlu #MañanasBlu pic.twitter.com/FTU3exTVuF

— BluRadio Colombia (@BluRadioCo) April 9, 2026

For many commentators, the partying in the prison brought back painful memories of drug baron Pablo Escobar’s luxury lifestyle while supposedly imprisoned by the state in the 1990s.

Meanwhile the chief prosecutor Camargo came under fire for her decision to suspend warrants for seven other gang leaders currently on the run – including that of Pérez Peña of La Mesa.

This week the exact whereabouts of Pérez Peña was unknown, as was his willingness to engage in any peace process. According to a report by TV station Teleantioquia, the La Mesa gang leader was based in Madrid, Spain, while “moving around Europe as a sophisticated tourist”.

For El Montañero, coming home to Colombia, even under the guise of a peace facilitator, could be less of a holiday.

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Bogotá-based Remoti launched a “Workforce-as-a-Service” model and new app on April 14, 2026, making the case that managing distributed teams in Latin America requires dedicated infrastructure – and that the company’s nearly ten years of regional operating experience is the foundation for building it. 

The Remoti App consolidates the company’s services into three modules: Global Opportunities for talent matching, Workforce Operation covering payroll, compliance and contracts, and Marketplace & Financial Products providing financial tools to workers directly. 

“The world changed, and companies need new ways to build and operate global teams. With Workforce-as-a-Service, we’re allowing firms to integrate talent in Latin America with the same flexibility with which they build their technology in the cloud,” said Pablo Miller, CEO and founder of the startup. 

“At the same time, we’re allowing a new more structured, trustworthy and talent-backed experience in the region.” 

The bundling is a move away from the traditional staffing model and toward something closer to a managed HR platform with deep regional focus. 

The launch comes at a reasonable moment for the thesis: Colombia’s IT outsourcing market is projected to reach an annual growth rate of 7.37% through 2030, while the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report found big data analysts, AI, and machine learning specialists will be among the fastest-growing job categories in the region – with 51% of employers calling for more public investment in reskilling. 

The harder question is differentiation. While others have built global employer-of-record and HR infrastructure at scale, Remoti’s angle is regional depth and operational ownership – WaaS is framed as a managed service, not a software product, implying the company absorbs more risk in exchange for deeper client relationships. 

“This launch marks a structural change in how organizations think about the redistribution of its operations and access to talent. It is the result of nearly 10 years building, operating and making a model perfect with international companies.” added Juan Felipe Velasco, managing director and co-founder at Remoti

The worker-facing financial products layer also points to a two-sided model that most competitors haven’t prioritized in the region. 

Remoti’s event included a policy panel with Congressman Antonio Zabarain, who sponsored legislation to promote Colombia’s tech sector – relevant context given that 61% of Colombian firms cite outdated or inflexible regulatory frameworks as a barrier to business transformation, according to the WEF, making compliance navigation a genuine value-add rather than a commodity service. 

Whether the WaaS framing holds up under the operational realities of multi-country employment compliance will determine how credible the platform story becomes.

Featured Image Source: A Chosen Soul via Unsplash+

Disclosure: This article mentions clients of an Espacio portfolio company.

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The more than 100 female Colombian journalists who signed the ‘No to the pact of silence’ – a petition calling for answers about former president Andrés Pastrana’s appearance in the Jeffrey Epstein files –have posed 10 questions to candidates in the upcoming presidential elections.

The questions, shared on X last Sunday, intend to make the candidates take a clear position before the public on key women’s issues, including the mentions of Pastrana in the Epstein files. 

So far, only two candidates – Roy Barreras and Sondra Macollins – have responded publicly to the questions, which come amid what some have described as Colombia’s #MeToo movement.

“We asked 10 questions to those seeking the presidency,” wrote Ana Cristina Restrepo, one of the women leading the ‘No to the pact of silence’, in an X post on April 12.

The questions addressed the preservation of abortion rights, equal representation in positions of high power, protocols to address violence against women, and the commitment to the continuation, protection, and strengthening of related public policies in support of women’s rights. 

Among the 102 women behind the questions are public figures like: María Elvira Samper, a writer, journalist and philosopher; Patricia Nieto, professor at the University of Antioquia and journalist; and Maria Teresa Ronderos, Director of the Ibero-American Center for Journalistic Investigation (CLIP).

The list also includes Jineth Bedoya Lima, a pioneer of #NoEsHoraDeCallar (it is not the time to be quiet) a campaign that denounces sexual violence and urges survivors to speak out against gender-based violence. Bedoya is herself a survivor of kidnapping, torture and sexual violence by paramilitaries in 2000, with her case going to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

The first candidate to respond to the questions was center-left presidential hopeful Roy Barreras of the La Fuerza Party. “101 women signatories of #NoAlPactoDeSilencio, representing thousands of others, have put these 10 questions to the presidential candidates. Here, in this thread, are my answers,” he wrote on X on April 13.

Sondra Macollins, an independent candidate for the Digital Party, also answered in an X post on April 14.“I want to respond to what has been raised by #NoAlPactoDeSilencio because the truth is not negotiable,” she said.

“The time of the ‘untouchables’ and complicit silence is over. If there are names linked to Andrés Pastrana and Epstein, the country demands clear answers,” added Macollins.

The questions are seen as part of a new women’s rights movement which started in Colombia following the appearance of former president Andrés Pastrana in the Epstein files.

The materials included a photo of Pastrana and Ghislaine Maxwell wearing Colombian Air Force uniforms, alleged compromising emails, and testimonies where Maxwell described the two as friends and claimed to have flown a Black Hawk in Colombia. There were also reports that Pastrana flew on a private jet with Epstein and disgraced agent Jean-Luc Brunel, accused of recruiting minors for the late financier.

Later, #MeTooColombia was brought into focus following allegations by female journalists of sexual harassment in media outlets such as RTVC and Caracol.

According to the official ballot issued by Colombia’s National Civil Registry, there are 14 presidential candidates for the first round, which will take place on May 31. Four of them are women.

The post Colombia’s #MeToo movement advances with questions for presidential candidates appeared first on The Bogotá Post.

Euthanasia planned for the numerous offspring of “cocaine hippos” originally smuggled in by Pablo Escobar. Not everyone is happy.

After years of debate over the fate of Colombia’s wild hippos – during which the feral beasts have multiplied in lush tropical rivers – the ministry of the environment has announced a plan to kill at least 80 of the African imports.

The non-native species was smuggled into Colombia by drug baron Pablo Escobar in 1980 as part of his collection of exotic animals – including rhinos and lions – which he kept at his ranch, Hacienda Napoles.

The infamous drug trafficker died in a rooftop battle in Medellín in1993, but a few hippos escaped his lowland ranch to find what biologists would later describe as “perfect conditions” in the nearby Magdalena River.

In the decades since around 200 offspring have spread over 100 kilometers (60 miles) of river and swamps bordering departments of Antioquia, Bolívar, Santander and Sucre.

But after years of procrastination over what to do with the wayward Hippopotamus amphibius – with various schemes to sterilize them or ship them to zoos and sanctuaries around the world – Colombia’s environment minister Irene Vélez said this week a cull was the only option.

“We’re talking of a process of euthanasia, which is the technical recommendation,” she told Blu Radio.

The plan was initially to reduce the population by 80 breeding individuals, then cull around 30 beasts per year which would systematically reduce the population.

Hippo boom

The controversial decision is based on a 170-page technical report by the Humboldt Institute and Universidad Nacional in 2022.

The report concluded that the hippos were damaging the tropical ecosystem of the Magdalena river valley by spreading disease and overloading their watery habitat with nitrates: the amphibious herbivores grazed the riverbanks to each munch 50 kilos of grass a day – but then pooped the waste out into rivers and lakes.

Without an urgent cull the population “could increase to 500 hippopotamuses affecting our ecosystem by 2030,” Vélez told a press conference this week. This boom would further put at risk native populations of turtles and manatees.

See also: Hippos need culling, says report

Then there what the report referred to as “hippo – human interactions”, such as a car hitting a two-ton creatures on the main Bogotá – Medellín highway – which runs close to their main hangout near Puerto Triunfo – and even cases of locals trying to keep young ones as pets.

The report also pointed out that hippos were aggressive and territorial and officially the deadliest large mammal – they kill on average 500 people in Africa every year – and attacked boats and canoes on the river aswell as people, cattle and horses around the River Magdalena.

In other videos posted online people are seen chasing them down the highstreet in the town of Doradal.

Hippo takeover

To justify the cull, Vélez said reduction methods such as sterilization were too difficult – anaesthetizing wild hippos is no easy task – and none of the seven nations initially interesting in receiving live hippos for zoos and wildlife parks had followed through.

The cull would start in the second half of the 2026 around hippo hotspots close to Hacienda Nápoles in Puerto Triunfo and Isla del Silencio, a river island near to Puerto Boyacá, she said.

This island is home to a large group one of which attacked and severely injured a farmer collecting water from the riverbank in 2020, according to a news report.  Colombia’s wet lowlands had perfect conditions for hippos, biologist Katerine Corrales told a Caracol news crew visiting the island this week.  

“Africa has droughts and adverse weather patterns. Here we have a constant climate with abundant water and resources which generates a faster reproduction rate,” she said.

In the same report local villagers complained that the hippos had “taken over the island” and restricted commercial fishing.

Poor Pepe

Not everyone welcomed news of the cull. Hippo protection group Comisión Protectora de la Vida de los Hipopótamos – founded in the town of Puerto Triunfo close to Hacienda Nápoles and which benefits from hippo tourism –  rejected the “terrible decision of the national government to authorize a hippo hunt”.

“In our municipality, we are committed to the protection and conservation of these incredible living beings. Hippos are an important part of our identity, and we must live in harmony with them,” said the group on its Facebook page this week.

It called a meeting in Bogotá to seek “non-violent” alternatives to the cull, such as a return to the plan of transferring live hippos to other countries.

Previous attempts to shoot hippos have ended in public relations disasters, such as the killing of Pepe in 2009. The large male hippo was slated for transfer to a zoo in Costa Rica after rampaging around Puerto Berrio.

But he was shot after a bungled attempt to capture him, and photos of an army platoon posing with his remains caused public revulsion, and a court ban on hunting hippos.

Pepe also highlighted the affection local communities had for “Pablo’s hippos”. For some folk the state persecution of the mammals was synonymous with the hunt for Pablo Escobar, still a popular figure among communities that benefitted from his largesse in the 1980s.

In fact, in the drug baron’s heyday the original hippos were kept at his Hacienda Nápoles in a public zoo and safari park where local families could tour for free. Today the hacienda and zoo is still there but managed by the state as part of a huge amusement park.

A grave in Colombia

This week, Minister Vélez was adamant that culling must form part of any population control.

It was global restrictions on wildlife trafficking – the CITES agreements – that had condemned the hippos in Colombia by preventing them being easily shipped abroad, she explained.

“It’s not enough for a zoo to raise its hand; the country must authorize their entry. Unfortunately, no country has given the green light. This administrative silence indicates that there is no interest in receiving them”.

It seems that putting Pablo’s hippos in overseas zoos is proving as difficult as extraditing the cartel kingpin himself. Like their progenitor, the big beasts face a violent end in Colombia rather than a cage in a foreign land.

The post Colombia to cull its wild hippo population appeared first on The Bogotá Post.

The Colombian National Police published a report this week summarizing the results of its counter-narcotics operations during the first quarter of 2026.

Authorities highlighted the results of their new anti-drug dubbed ‘Esmeralda Plus‘, which has led to the seizure of 124 tons of cocaine and 99 tons of cannabis.

The report comes as President Gustavo Petro faces pressure from the White House to prove his commitment to countering the illicit drug trade, which has been a source of dispute between the two administrations.

“We are delivering significant strikes against drug trafficking. Today we fulfill our duty to Colombia and the world with dignity,” said Brigadier General William Castaño Ramos, Director of the Anti-Narcotics Division, following the report’s publication.

In addition to the 124 tons of cocaine and 99 tons of cannabis confiscated, the police also seized over 450,000 gallons of liquid chemicals and 396,000 kilograms of solid ingredients used in drug production.

They also announced the destruction of 981 narcotics laboratories and the recovery of 99 ampoules of fentanyl.

The confiscation figures mark a significant increase in seizures compared to the first 100 days of 2025, which saw 104 tons of cocaine and 63 tons of cannabis confiscated. 

These figures serve as a response to the heavy tensions that preceded the White House meeting, when U.S. President Donald Trump personally attacked Petro, signaling him as a “man who likes to make cocaine” and claiming that Colombia was “very sick” under his leadership.

The report comes amid mounting pressure by Washington for the Petro administration to tackle drug production. 

Trump has accused Colombia of failing to cooperate in the fight against the narcotics trade and carried out a series of unilateral aerial strikes against suspected ‘narco-vessels’ off the coast of Colombia since September, actions condemned by the Petro as a violation of national sovereignty.

Furthermore, Colombia’s President is currently facing two preliminary criminal investigations in Brooklyn and Manhattan regarding his 2022 electoral campaign. U.S. prosecutors are examining alleged illicit donations from drug trafficking networks and meetings with traffickers intended to block extraditions.

“The United States has found a mechanism to pressure the government and extract the maximum amount of concessions regarding the fight against drugs,” Sandra Borda, Professor of Political Science at the University of the Andes, told The Bogotá Post. 

While the Colombian government appears to have stepped up its counter-narcotics operations amid U.S. pressure, some say this may not be enough to appease the White House.

“For Washington, these technical results are necessary, but they aren’t enough to fully restore trust,” Nelson Poveda, a political analyst and international affairs expert with experience in Colombia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told The Bogotá Post. “Still, these reports act as a bridge for ‘technical diplomacy,’ allowing cooperation to continue even when the political relationship is tense.”

In the report, authorities stress that ‘Esmeralda Plus’ attacks narcotics trafficking as a holistic system rather than just seizing drugs.

“We are directly destabilizing the finances, logistics, and operational capacity of these criminal structures,” pointed out General William Rincón, Chief of the National Police Service.

But Colombia has been excluded from key regional counter-narcotics efforts, notably the “Shield of the Americas”, a new anti-drug alliance promoted by Donald Trump.

The White House has historically favored eradication – the destruction of drug crops – as a counter-narcotics strategy. 

But Petro has consistently defended his “Total Peace” policy, arguing that the war on drugs must move away from just persecuting farmers and shift toward dismantling the financial backbone of cartels and taking down criminal leaders.

However, authorities reported 40 arrests for extradition purposes and more than 17,000 arrests related to drug trafficking so far this year. Additionally, the manual eradication of around 2,000 hectares of illicit crops shows that the Colombian administration is maintaining a mixed offensive that combines social policy with high-impact law enforcement.

With the 2026 electoral cycle approaching in Colombia, Petro’s administration is under immense pressure to show that this humanitarian approach is not a sign of weakness before he leaves office.

The post Colombian authorities highlight anti-drug efforts amid US pressure appeared first on The Bogotá Post.

Colombia’s top Catholic official, Bogotá’s Archbishop Luis José Rueda Aparicio, marked Holy Thursday by washing the feet of transgender women and sex workers in the capital, in a gesture aimed at promoting the inclusion of marginalized communities.

Rueda carried out the ritual in the Santa Fe neighborhood, a central red-light area known as a “tolerance zone.” The ceremony was one of the Church’s Holy Week observances and drew community leaders, social organizations and local residents.

The washing of feet is a central rite of Holy Thursday (also known as Maundy Thursday), commemorating the biblical account of Jesus washing the feet of his apostles during the Last Supper. The act symbolizes humility, service and care for others, particularly the most vulnerable.

Rueda kneeled before participants to echo this tradition for the second year in a row. Last April, he performed a similar ceremony paying tribute to Sara Millerey, a trans woman murdered in Medellín earlier that year.

“May no one feel rejected, may no one feel excluded,” Rueda said during the mass he directed prior to the rite. In a statement for Noticias Uno, he added that “what societies do through discrimination is fracture”.

#NoticiasUNO| El Arzobispo Primado de Colombia, monseñor Luis José Rueda, lavó los pies a un grupo de personas de la comunidad trans y de mujeres trabajadoras sexuales en el barrio Santa Fe, zona de tolerancia de Bogotá pic.twitter.com/YpAXvuich2

— Noticias Uno (@NoticiasUno) April 2, 2026

Some participants described the moment as deeply meaningful. 

Valentina Rojas, a transgender woman who took part, said she felt “happy” and “loved” after the ceremony.

The gesture comes amid ongoing tensions within the global Catholic Church over LGBTQ+ rights. 

Pope Leo XIV has recently reiterated that Church teachings on sexuality and marriage are unlikely to shift in the near term, describing such issues as “highly polarizing.” 

Although he has emphasized that all individuals are welcome in the Church, he has ruled out immediate doctrinal changes regarding same-sex relationships or transgender identity.

Featured image: Luis José Rueda

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

The post Colombia’s top Catholic leader washes feet of trans women, sex workers during Holy Week rite appeared first on The Bogotá Post.

Have you done your traspaso? If not, read on….

Colombia’s cancilleria (foreign affairs ministry) was reminding foreign residents this week of the 2026 deadline to transfer their old resident visas to the new 5-year electronic visa scheme.

“Anyone with these visas, granted under previous regulations, must complete the mandatory process before October 31, 2026, before the Visa Authority,” announced the government, referring to resident ‘R’ visas issued before October, 2022, when new visa regulations came into effect.

Failure to transfer your visa by October 31 could lead to sanctions or even losing your residency status.

And even though the October deadline seems far away, the Cancilleria are expecting a flood of last-minute applications. Our advice is: don’t leave it to the last minute. Government websites are clunky at the best of times and you will need at least one appointment with Migración, which will be harder to get as the deadline approaches.

To avoid last-minute panic, here’s a quick Q and A to get ahead of the game…

I have a permanent ‘R’ residents visa in my passport. Surely that’s OK?

No. Under new laws passed in 2022 (law 5477 to be precise), all R visas for long-term residents are now subject to a transfer every five years, which also coincides with the lifespan of the Cedula Extranjeria (Colombian-issued ID card). So even if the visa stamp in your passport says indefinida, you still need to do the transfer.

The traspaso applies to:

• All Resident (R) visas issued before October 21, 2022.
• Any new R e-visas after five years (the expiry date is written on the visa).
• If you change passports for any reason (expired, lost or stolen).

If you have a passport about to expire it makes sense to renew the passport before the visa transfer.

So, do I have to start the whole visa application process again?

No. The traspaso is relatively simple and can be done mostly online, directly with the Cancilleria website. Although touted as a ‘transfer’, in most cases you will be issued with a new visa number in an electronic format that will be sent to you by email. You can then print your own e-visa and carry it with your passport and store it in your phone.

Other steps require visiting your nearest Migración office.

What are the steps?

1. Obtain your Migration Movement Certificate from the nearest Migration Office.
2. Apply online for visa traspaso. Wait for the e-visa to be issued.
3. Register your new e-visa and apply for a new Cedula Extranjeria ID card online.
4. Make an appointment with Migration Office for your biometric data.
5. Collect your new Cedula Extranjeria ID card.

How much does it cost?

Around US$ 213 in total at current exchange rates. This breaks down to: US$25 for the Migration Movement Certificate, US$54 for the visa study, US$54 for the visa issuance, US$80 for a new replacement ID card (Cedula de Extranjeria).

What’s the Migration Movement Certificate?

Before applying for the traspaso, you need to obtain Certificado de Movimientos Migratorios, which is a printed certificate issued by Migración showing your entrances and exits from Colombia. The purpose of the certificate is to show your presence in Colombia. If you have been absent from the country for more than two years your residency status is automatically cancelled. You can apply and pay for the certificate online at the Migración website Formulario Único de Trámites page.

Be careful to select the centro facilitador (Migration office) that is closest to you because you must collect the printed certificate in person from the office. Also select the 10-year option for the certificate’s timeframe.

Does that mean hours of queuing?

Not usually. One you have applied online, Migración will send you an email within three days notifying that your certificate is ready. You can go to the office and skip the lines by showing the email to the door staff. The counter staff will then print off the certificate. There is usually no need to make an appointment.

Can I get the certificate from overseas?

At present, Migración is only giving the option to collect the certificate in person in Colombia. This is one way to ensure that the visa holder is resident in Colombia. The option to collect in an overseas – i.e. at Colombian consulates – could change in the future.  

OK, so what about the visa transfer?

Now you need to the visa website at  www.cancilleria.gov.co, and navigate to the visa page called the SITAC. Note there are English and Spanish pages (the Spanish version sometimes works better).

Fill in your details to enter the system, then select ‘Visa traspaso’ from the dropdown menus. You will also be asked to click on the timeframe when your original ‘R’ visa was issued. You will then be told what documents to present; these can be uploaded in PDF.

What documents are required?

This varies depending on your type of Resident visa and when it was issued, but generally:

• Scan of your original R visa.
• Scan of your passport main page.
• Scan of your current Cedula Extranjeria.
• Scan of your most recent migration entry stamp to Colombia.
• Scan of your Migratory Movements Certificate issued by Migración.
• Letter requesting the transfer, explaining the reason for the request (i.e. ‘para cumplir con Ley 5477 de 2022’).
• Passport-style digital photo meeting the specifications.

Holders of permanent resident visas do not need to provide any more information. Other types of R visas might require evidence that the conditions under which the visa was granted still applies.

How do I pay?

The fees are divided into a US$54 ‘study’ fee, which is paid on submission of the documents. When the visa transfer is approved you pay an additional ‘visa issuance fee’ of US$54. Payment is also online by Colombian PSE bank transfer scheme, or you can use Visa or Mastercard credit cards. 

Is that the traspaso done?

No. Once your e-visa is sent to you be email, you need to register your visa and apply for a new Cedula Extranjeria ID card within 15 days of receiving the new e-visa. The initial application and payment is done online, using the Formulario Único de Trámites page. Tick the Cedula Extranjeria box and select your nearest Migración office from the drop-down menu.

You’ll need to provide more information, scans, and an US$80 payment.

Surely that’s the end of it?

Nope. Now you need to make an appointment with the same Migración office to provide biometric data for your new CE. To make an appointment, first register with the website here.  Slots for the following week are allocated often at 5pm on Sunday, so try at this time.

If there are no slots available, take a screenshot of the appointment page as you can later use this as evidence to prove you were trying to comply with the 15-day plan (Migración sometimes sanction visa holders for not registering on time).

If you do not get an appointment within 15 days don’t worry; with your screenshots of the full agendas, Migracion are unlikely to complain. Everyone knows the system is overloaded.

What about my Cedula de Extranjeria?

Another delay: some people wait months for the plastic card, though lately the wait has been getting shorter. You can use your old CE or your passport in the meantime.

Should I hire a commercial visa company to do the paperwork?

The Cancilleria recommends applicants to apply directly for the traspaso directly via the website. However, commercial visa companies can assist with the paperwork but will charge a fee up to several hundred dollars. Try the process yourself before seeking professional help.

Just don’t leave it too late…

The post Long-term foreign residents reminded to transfer ‘R’ visas in 2026 appeared first on The Bogotá Post.

On March 22, American Airlines flight attendant Eric Gutierrez went missing after a night out in Medellín.

Less than a week later, authorities found his body in a river three hours away from the city. They concluded he had not died of natural causes. 

The U.S-Salvadoran citizen’s murder is the latest in a string of tourist deaths in the Colombian city famous for its nightlife. 

But, in conversation with The Bogotá Post, Medellín’s Secretary of Security, Manuel Villa Mejía, offered reassurances that the city remains a safe destination for tourists and shared tips to stay safe.

Is Medellin a safe destination?

Gutiérrez, 32, appears to have been a victim of scopolamine robbery, in which thieves use the toxic drug to daze and incapacitate their targets. For years, this method has been well documented in Colombia, which is believed to have the highest number of cases in the world.

Medellín has a reputation as a party city and, accordingly, is often associated with stories about scams, druggings, and robberies.

But Villa Mejía insisted that the city does not tolerate criminal activities: “Our message is clear: there is no place for crime in Medellín.”

He highlighted the city’s recent security strategy to tackle crime, including increasing police presence in nightlife hotspots, dismantling gangs, and enhancing video surveillance.

The Secretary of Security noted how safety in Medellín – once the world’s murder capital – has dramatically improved in recent decades. 

“Today is an example of how security can be improved through strategy, consistent effort, and institutional coordination,” said Villa Mejía.

He noted that the city’s homicide rate has fallen for two consecutive years, now standing at 10 per 100,000 inhabitants.

Villa Mejía compared this rate to U.S. cities like Atlanta (51), Washington D.C. (51), and Chicago (73). 

“Although there is still a long way to go—since the only acceptable figure is zero—these advances reinforce our commitment to continue working every day to protect the lives, safety, and peace of mind of those who live in and visit the city,” said the Secretary of Security. 

Tips to stay safe

While Villa Mejía defended Medellín’s record on crime, he also said that tourists must take precautions to avoid ending up victims of robbery or worse.

“We invite all travelers to enjoy the city at their leisure, but also to exercise caution and act responsibly,” said Villa Mejía.

He recommended that travellers use trusted transportation, avoid displaying large amounts of money or expensive jewellery in public, and stay in safe areas where police are present. 

Villa Mejía also stressed the dangers of meeting strangers, especially online. He added that travellers who meet a stranger in person should avoid accepting drinks from them and not follow them to an unknown location. 

“The main recommendation is to stay in control of your surroundings,” concluded the Secretary of Security.

The post Medellin reassures tourists after US flight attendant death appeared first on The Bogotá Post.

The startup ecosystem in Medellin has long been a leading success story for both Colombia and Latin America. In recent weeks, the progress of Medellin’s evolution into a knowledge-based economy and hub for innovation has gained even more traction. 

Globally, Medellin currently ranks at #145, according to the StartupBlink Ecosystem Index, and holds 5th place regionally in South America. On a national level, the strength and diversity of Medellin’s startup ecosystem is second only to Bogota. 

Now, the launch of a new official district-level ranking designed to measure local performance in science, technology, and innovation promises to strengthen the innovation sector in Medellin even further. The “CTi Ecosystem Pulse” (Pulso Ecosistema CTI) is an initiative from the Mayor of Medellin and Ruta-N will provide local organizations with granular data on their performance set against an official innovation benchmark. 

The benchmark being rolled out with the CTi Ecosystem Pulse initiative will support organizations in Medellin’s innovation ecosystem to benchmark themselves, make more strategic decisions, and strengthen their national and international positioning.

In addition, Ruta-N also announced that Medellin has been included in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Network of Innovation Ecosystems, a platform that connects 17 cities across the Americas, Europe, and Asia to promote collaboration, shared learning, and the development of innovative solutions.

Here, the WEF recognized the role Ruta-N has played as orchestrator of the innovation ecosystem, connecting companies, academia, the public sector, and civil society to strengthen entrepreneurship. The organization has also been ranked 1st among the country’s public open innovation ecosystems in the 2025 Open Startups 100 ranking. 

It’s also interesting to note how quickly Medellin has been able to climb through the rankings in a short span of time. In 2025/2026, the city climbed 17 spots in global rankings and is recognized for having the highest growth among startup ecosystems in South America. 

The data, coupled with the new CTi Ecosystem Pulse initiative, suggests that Medellin is expected to continue with this impressive upward trajectory on a national, regional and global scale. 

However, this success story has been made possible by three central pillars of innovation: Academia, conferences and local investors. Let’s take a closer look at how these play out across the city.

University Support Nurtures Innovation in Medellin 

First of all, universities and academic institutions represent a core pillar of Medellin’s innovation economy.  

EAFIT’s Impact Entrepreneurship Center is one academic unit that has played an active role in boosting entrepreneurship in the city. In 2021, EAFIT University’s president, Claudia Restrepo found that less than 5% of the most impactful startups in Colombia had EAFIT alumni as founders. 

In response to the data, the university decided to take entrepreneurship out of its academic silo and connect it with the real-world ecosystem by creating the Impact Entrepreneurship Center, known as On.going. 

Four years after the initial survey, the center has incubated nearly 190 initiatives. In addition, 40% of these are now formalized ventures, showing why nurturing entrepreneurship in Medellin pays dividends in short time frames. 

Under the leadership of Director Tomás Ríos, On.going joined forces with EAFIT, Fundación Fraternidad Medellín and Universidad EIA to establish  U Ventures, the first VC fund in Colombia designed to invest in university talent. 

“Out of every thousand ideas, maybe four grow and scale,” Ríos explained in an interview with Ana Herazo of Contxto. “To have 40 large companies in the future, you need 10,000 ideas today.”

Medellin conferences boost international collaboration 

Events and conferences represent another central pillar within most innovation strategies, and Medellin has also spurred collaboration on an international scale through this channel. 

One example of a homegrown initiative can be found with Starter Company, today one of the largest startup events in Latin America. In 2025, Starter Company brought together 13,000 attendees from 20 countries, 340 startups, and more than 160 investment funds. 

According to CEO Juan Gabriel Arboleda, part of the reason why Starter Company has found such success is that they don’t try to mimic models from other parts of the world. Instead, they have built something from the ground up that works for entrepreneurs in the region. 

We can see numerous examples of public-private collaborations that support the rise of tech innovation in Medellin and bring international attention to the city. For example, TECH SPHERE was organized by software development enterprise Source Meridian, 360 Health Data and the Pascual Bravo University Institution. Mike Hoey founded Source Meridian and is one of the city’s leading international tech entrepreneurs.

The conference highlighted Medellin’s role as a catalyst for AI research in Latin America and brought together business execs, researchers, entrepreneurs, and professionals from across sectors and backgrounds to explore how AI can be practically applied to solve real challenges and scale impactful solutions. 

While local initiatives play an important role, we can also see the rise of international events choosing to host conferences in Medellin and South America and the region continues to be recognized for its contributions to innovation. 

Horasis, a global think tank headquartered in Zurich led by Frank-Jürgen Richter, held the Horasis Global Summit 2025 in Brazil. The event represented the largest meeting the organization has held to date, bringing together 1000 speakers from 50 countries, a testament to the draw of the region. 

Local entrepreneurs and investors solve real-world problems 

The final pillar to this success story lies in the presence of eager local entrepreneurs and investors from Medellin. Both the innovator and the investor are integral to the ongoing success of Medellin’s innovation ecosystem. 

360 Health Data is a platform built by Colombian tech experts to overcome healthcare disparities due to language barriers.

Its platform, Coralia Health, translates medical knowledge and resources into Spanish through tech-powered automations, meaning physicians in the region now have rapid access to up-to-date, reliable, and relevant information.

Without more support and funding systems like U Ventures to sustain ideas from the earliest stages, the pipeline collapses before it can produce results.

Meanwhile, local innovators have a keen understanding of the gaps in the market and the solutions can drive the most impact. 

As Medellin continues to rise through the global innovation rankings, it’s likely to encourage more entrepreneurs to stay and encourage more investors to back high-tech ideas.

The post What the latest innovation ranking for Medellin tell us about the future of entrepreneurship in the city  appeared first on The Bogotá Post.

UNESCO has designated Medellín, Colombia’s second-largest city, as the World Book Capital for 2027, recognizing the Colombian city’s rapid growth in reading culture and its use of books and libraries as tools for social transformation.

The decision, announced in March, follows a recommendation by the organization’s World Book Capital Advisory Committee, made up of publishers, booksellers and authors. 

Medellín will become the 27th city to hold the title since 2001, with its program set to begin on April 23, 2027, coinciding with World Book and Copyright Day.

UNESCO said Medellín has seen a 542% increase in bookstores over the past 70 years, placing it at the top of Colombia’s reading index. The city is home to more than 110 bookstores and 25 libraries, many of them built as part of urban renewal projects that transformed former prisons and police facilities into cultural spaces.

“Books are not just carriers of stories. They are a source of creativity and learning,” said UNESCO Director General Khaled El-Enany, adding that Medellín’s designation sends “a powerful message about how culture can build peace and social cohesion.”

Mayor Federico Gutiérrez described the recognition as a milestone for the city. “Medellín has shown that reading is a fundamental part of its culture,” he said. “We want every child born here to grow up with a book in their hands.”

Gutiérrez said Medellín’s bid for the World Book Capital designation was built around five strategic pillars, including early childhood reading programs to ensure access to books from birth, as well as initiatives to promote reading among students through book clubs and opportunities to meet authors and engage with their work.

Cities named World Book Capital commit to promoting reading across all age groups and organizing a year-long program of cultural activities. According to Spanish-language philologist Andrea Peláez, the initiative is designed to support cities with strong cultural momentum.

“These are cities with significant cultural mobilization,” Peláez said. “UNESCO supports them for a year to develop projects that promote reading, especially among young people and vulnerable communities, while strengthening literacy ecosystems overall.”

A key part of Medellín’s literary ecosystem is its Eventos del Libro, a series of large-scale public events including the Book and Culture Festival (Fiesta del Libro y la Cultura), which bring together writers, publishers and readers across the city. 

These events promote reading through school programs, author visits and community activities, often encouraging students to engage with books ahead of meeting authors in person.

UNESCO said the designation is part of broader efforts to strengthen literacy and access to books worldwide, highlighting similar initiatives in regions such as Central America and Ethiopia.

Once associated with violence, Medellín has gained international recognition in recent decades for its cultural and urban transformation – with books and libraries playing part in that shift.

Featured image credit: Festival de Libro Medellín.

The post Medellín named World Book Capital 2027, highlighting cultural transformation appeared first on The Bogotá Post.

Segunda Marquetalia ordered the attack last year according to trial testimony.

Revelations that former FARC leaders ordered the 2025 killing of Miguel Uribe have heightened political tensions in the run-up to the May presidential elections.

The 39-year-old Colombian senator and presidential hopeful was gunned down by a Bogotá gang hired by the Segunda Marquetalia, an armed group created by disgruntled guerrillas hiding in Venezuela, according to testimony revealed in court.

The senator was shot down by a 15-year-old assassin at an open-air political rally in the barrio of Modelia in June, 2025. Uribe died of head wounds two months later.

After months of investigations and multiple arrests, state prosecutors were last week finally able to link the local gang that carried out the hit with the armed group.  

See also: Who ordered the murder of presidential candidate Miguel Uribe?

The breakthrough came during the trial of Bogotá-based gang leader Simeón Pérez Marroquín, also known as ‘El Viejo’, who admitted he had hired the local Plata o Plomo (‘Silver or Lead’) gang to carry out the killing on behalf of the Segunda Marquetalia armed group.

“The deal was that they would pay one billion pesos [US$270,000] for the senator’s death,” said Marroquín in a statement reported by magazine Semana.

Right hand man

Confirmation of involvement by an armed group founded by former FARC leaders sparked a political spat between front-runners for the upcoming presidential election.

Right-wing candidate Paloma Valencia was quick to accuse the Petro government of negotiating peace with the Segunda Marquetalia – even while the armed group was plotting the murder of Uribe.

See also: Peace Plan has caused more conflict, says thinktank

Valencia referred to Marroquín’s statements that the hit was organized by veteran guerrilla Zarco Aldinever, the right-hand man of the group leader Iván Márquez, in early 2025.

At this time Aldinever was nominated a ‘peace manager’ by the Petro government, meaning any arrest warrants were suspended and the rebel was free to roam. This despite the collapse of peace talks with the Segunda Marquetalia at the end of 2024.

Valencia further pointed to the closeness between her main election rival Iván Cepeda and leaders of the armed group.

Old photo

“The killer of Miguel Uribe is photographed hugging Iván Cepeda,” she wrote on X, attaching  a photo of her rival with Segunda Marquetalia founder Iván Márquez.  

In fact, the photo of Cepeda dated from the 2016 FARC peace talks, explained President Petro in a strongly worded statement defending his friend and political ally.

“The photo shows Iván Cepeda’s attempt to help [the Santos government] achieve peace. At that time, the entire FARC was ready for peace,” said.

Iván Márquez was number two in the FARC at the time and widely respected for his role in the negotiations.

Petro went on to blame his predecessor, right-wing president Iván Duque, for undermining the FARC peace process that forced former guerrilla leaders like Márquez back to arms and the Segunda Marquetalia.

Following the 2016 deal, some former FARC leaders had been “entrapped by state prosecutors with fake drug charges”, he said, leading to extradition requests from the United States.

Faced with this legal pressure several top commanders, including Iván Márquez and Jesus Santrich, fled to Venezuela in 2018 before emerging on video a year later to announce their new incarnation as the Segunda Marquetalia, named after the village in the Tolima department where the original FARC first formed in 1964.

The armed group was active in drug trafficking and illegal mining along the Colombia-Venezuela border, in the departments such as Vichada and Guainía, according to a profile by InsightCrime. The leadership is suspected of hiding out in Venezuela.

Another study by Fundacion Ideas para La Paz estimated the group to have 530 armed combatants in 2025, an increase of 15% on 2024, and work mostly in the eastern plains of Colombia.

A hunt is on

In a press conference on Tuesday, Valencia accused Cepeda and other left-wing lawmakers of backing the former FARC commanders in their legal battles back in 2018, creating a chain of events leading to the creation of recycled armed group.

“Congressmen like Cepeda defended [Marquéz and Santrich] …and didn’t allow them to be extradited. If these thugs had been extradited, Miguel Uribe would be alive today,” she said.

In his own press statement Cepeda called Valencia’s comments “a dirty political game” and issued a challenge to the candidate, and her political mentor right-wing former president Álvaro Uribe, to back up the accusations in court.

“It’s infamy to accuse me or President Petro to have any type of involvement in such a deplorable deed as the assassination of senator and presidential pre-candidate Miguel Uribe,” he said.

Meanwhile this week the Colombian attorney general’s office launched a fresh hunt for the leaders of the Segunda Marquetalia, offering around million-dollar rewards for the capture of seven commanders including Iván Márquez and Zarco Aldinever.  

In fact, Aldinever was reported killed by rival armed group ELN in Venezuela during a squabble over a cocaine shipment in August last year – the same month that Miguel Uribe died – according to Colombian state forces at the time.    

This week Colombia’s Minister of Defense Pedro Sanchez walked back that claim saying no body had ever been found and that the initial report of Aldinever’s death – sent from the Segunda Marquetalia itself – could be disinformation.

“At this time, the position is clear: without a body there is no confirmation of death, and that is why all institutional resources remain active to locate him,” said Sanchez.

Underworld connections

Closer to home, the Segunda Marquetalia’s influence in Bogotá was under scrutiny after Simeón Marroquín’s testimony shed light on the murky connections with the city’s underworld.

Marroquín admitted that in previous decades he had acted as an urban operative for the FARC guerrillas, a hired gun ready to carry out orders in the city.

“I never wore camouflage, but while I was here in Bogotá, I was a miliciano. Guerrilla missions would come up, and I’d carry them out, but I was never in the ranks.”

His contacts with the FARC continued to the Segunda Marquetalia that tapped him for the Uribe killing.

Early in 2025, Marroquín was invited to a secret meeting in Cúcuta close to the Venezuelan border where, according to his testimony, Aldinever offered him one billion pesos for the crime (US$270,000) and another 600 million pesos (US$160,000) to “bribe the justice system” to deflect attention from the guerrilla group.

The motive for the killing was not clearly revealed by Marroquín, though a text message later found on his phone sent to his guerrilla paymasters talked of an “eye for an eye”, suggesting the former rebels were out for revenge.

Chilling revelation

Uribe was selected as an influential senator, scion of a right-wing political family, and popular candidate for this year’s presidential elections. He was also an easy target for assassins with his regular visits to communities where he had walkabouts to engage with local voters.

In the first few months of 2025, Marroquín worked his underworld connections to hire the Plata o Plomo gang which in turn lured the 15-year-old gunman who shot and wounded Miguel Uribe in a small park in the barrio of Modelia on June 7.

See also: Arrests made – but still questions in Uribe shooting.

Marroquín’s account paints a picture of a loose network of petty criminals lured by cash rather than political interests, ignorant of the details of both their intended target and the paymasters behind the plot.

The middleman saw the hit as a “good business opportunity” but also a chance to rekindle his role as urban operative for a guerrilla organization.

Marroquín’s plan unraveled after the 15-year-old gunman and various low-level gang members were detained in the hours and days following the June attack, creating a trail leading to his own capture in October.

“What’s done is done”

One chilling revelation was the order from above for Marroquín to kill low-level gang members to cut links to the guerrilla masterminds. This included murdering alias Gabriela, who transported the weapon and was present on the day of the shooting.

Marroquín refused to kill Gabriela, telling investigators “I didn’t have the heart for that because she was very young.” But he did send her by bus to the city of Florencia where the guerrillas were lying in wait.

#ATENCIÓN | "No hay palabras que justifiquen dicho acto, pero pues ya está hecho (…)", fueron las palabras con las que Simeón Pérez Marroquín, alias ‘El Viejo’, pidió perdón a la familia del senador y precandidato presidencial Miguel Uribe Turbay, tras reconocer que fue el… pic.twitter.com/btgnOsTEF7

— ÚltimaHoraCaracol (@UltimaHoraCR) March 20, 2026

The 19-year-old never made it; police investigators, already on Gabriela’s trail, organized for the bus to “break down” some miles before Florencia. Her arrest there and subsequent interrogation lead to Marroquín’s capture and eventual exposing of the links to the Segunda Marquetalia.

Last week, during the court process, Simeón Marroquín attempted to apologize for his role in the killing of Miguel Uribe.

“There are no words to justify my actions, but what’s done is done,” he said on camera from his cell, addressing his victim’s family – Uribe was married with four children – and asking forgiveness. He was then sentenced to 22 years in prison.

How quickly Colombian investigators can find Zarco Aldinever or other Segunda Marquetalia commanders, dead or alive, or hiding in Venezuela, remains to be seen.

The post Political tensions rise as guerrilla group revealed to be behind Miguel Uribe’s murder appeared first on The Bogotá Post.

According to the United Nations (UN), the world is in an era of “global water bankruptcy.” In Latin America alone, the OECD finds that 17 million people still lack access to safe drinking water. Among those affected are the residents of Tierra Bomba, a small Caribbean island located off the coast of Colombia which faces persistent challenges in obtaining drinking water. 

The island, home to an estimated 9,000 people, lacks access to clean water, with residents relying almost entirely on supplies brought in by boat from the mainland. 

However, water filtration startup Vital Lyfe and Amigos Del Mar, a local NGO, recently made a breakthrough for the island’s water supply; in November last year, they successfully tested a decentralized water system, which can turn seawater into treated filtered water. So far, 40 families in the area have been helped by the project, benefitting from stable water production with minimal maintenance. 

“Everyone knows that water is extremely expensive here,” Marta Maldonado, a Tierra Bomba local, told The Bogotá Post. “One gallon costs three thousand pesos. As a family, we have to buy four gallons of water every single day just to start the day. Many times, the water arrives with a little bit of salt in it, and that has even made us sick.”

For Maldonado, Vital Lyfe and Amigos Del Mar’s work has made drinking water more accessible. “Drinking the water filtered by Tierra Bomba’s technology is something special. It makes me realize that good water has finally arrived here. We have the sea right in front of us, and now, with these machines, clean water becomes possible. For us, it is something essential,” Maldonado said.

Making seawater drinkable 

As an island, Tierra Bomba faces significant challenges. For instance, there is a lack of running water and sewage systems, issues with gas access, and inefficient trash collection that can make life difficult for residents.

“One of the biggest problems that we see in Tierra Bomba is clean water access. The water comes by boat, and it can be expensive, inconsistent, and sometimes of questionable quality. The water gets to the island, and people have to go and buy it in one place, making it really hard for some people to carry water to their homes,” Pedro Salazar, president and founder of Amigos Del Mar, told The Bogotá Post. 

Amigos del Mar, established in 2015, decided to collaborate with Vital Lyfe to see if there was a way to create more reliable water access for the island. “Water is life. It brings health when a lot of the unsanitary water in the area carries diseases that people have been consuming. The quality of life for the people of Tierra Bomba can become much better, as we have already seen with this pilot, when they have access to good quality water for everything in their lives, from drinking to cleaning to cooking,” Salazar said.

Under the hood 

The project uses a portable filtration system built by Vital Lyfe, which offers a high-efficiency purification engine that combines mechanical innovations such as low-cost reverse osmosis membranes, and smart power management to deliver clean water without the industrial footprint normally associated with purification. The device can adapt to the water that is available, using the lowest energy, and implementing the most efficient treatment pathway for that specific source. 

This approach enables the system to process naturally occurring water sources, including brackish water, seawater, and freshwater, to eliminate salts and biological contaminants so the water can be made into drinkable, filtered water. 

“The project was a great success, with the technology working immediately, providing filtered water for around 40 families in the area. Many more became aware of the system and expressed interest as well, providing a need for more of this kind of tech. The mission achieved field validation for us as well, proving that the technology could work in remote environments with little knowledge or maintenance needed from the local community,” Jon Criss, CEO and co-founder of Vital Lyfe told The Bogotá Post. 

Criss notes that the local community assisted with the rollout, unloading and positioning equipment before installation began. The project means that rather than having to rely on a fragile supply chain which is vulnerable to changing weather conditions,  community members can enjoy sustainable access to clean water that’s local and scalable. 

“For us, this wasn’t just a one-off deployment. It was proof that communities like Tierra Bomba don’t have to stay dependent. There’s real potential here to expand the impact and build something long-term that strengthens resilience and lowers cost at the same time,” Criss said. 

While the pilot looks promising, it also remains to be seen if the equipment can sustain prolonged use. In addition, there is more research to be done, to demonstrate that such a filtration solution could provide filtered drinking water to more populated areas. 

The post Turning seawater into drinking water: A startup aims to transform life on a Colombian island appeared first on The Bogotá Post.

Weeks on from the first floods in northern Colombia, thousands of people remain without many of the basics and facing further problems. Find out what you can do to help.

The northern Colombian city of Montería was hit by extreme weather earlier this year, as exceptionally heavy rains flooded the city completely. Thousands of people in the capital of Córdoba have lost everything in the deluge.

While the relentless cycle of news marches on to discuss the upcoming elections, the families affected cannot. Their lives remain in ruins, with further problems coming as the water recedes. Most of the department is relatively poor, with the affected communities overwhelmingly from those in need even previous to this disaster.

The rains have lessened in severity, with fewer downpours and the water is slowly draining, but it will take years to undo the damage that it has wrought. The immediate emergency may be over for the time being, but the recuperation process will take long years to complete. 

What can you do to help those affected by the Córdoba floods?

Today, the charitable organisation Colombia Unida por Córdoba is launching a donation drive to help those hit by the rains to rebuild their lives as quickly as possible after the deluge. You can donate here to make your contribution to the campaign.

The money raised will go towards rehabilitation and reconstruction of households, schools and medical centres on the one hand and humanitarian assistance such as temporary housing and medical care on the other.

In the short term, thousands of people need immediate help, whether in terms of shelter or medically. Moving into the medium term there will be a need to both rebuild and restock a range of buildings to get people back to their regular lives.

Within the range of services that are needed by the communities under threat are not only physical and monetary assistance but also psychological help for those that have lost everything. Many farmers will need specialist advisory services to reestablish their fields.

The campaign seeks to bring Colombia together in order to help out a department battered by the effects of extreme weather, something that has grown in magnitude in recent years. It is a movement run both for and by Colombians.

Full transparency and auditing is at the core of the project, meaning you can check where the money is really going, unlike some of the larger international organisations. Moreover, the organisers are people who know the situation from firsthand experience.

The Cruz Roja Colombiana are also taking donations of clothes and building materials at their Salitre centre (Av.68 #68b-31), and you can donate money directly on this link. The local government in Bogotá, too, is organising donation drives on this link.

What’s the situation on the ground?

The capital of Córdoba, Montería, is the worst hit major city in the country, with thousands of people evacuated in the city and surrounds. Over 200,000 people have been directly affected by the rains. 

Everyone has been hit hard – 365 barrios across 25 muncipios. Hundreds of farms are underwater, houses have been inundated and 15 Indigenous reservations are among the list of those now facing an uncertain and perilous future.

A lot of infrastructure is in ruins too, with over 2,000km of roads submerged and hundreds of schools and medical centres unusable for at least the medium term and no sign of what comes next. Córdoba is a relatively poor department, without the resources that Medellín or Bogotá can call upon.

Sadly, politics have come into play here too, with Petro clashing with regional governor Erasmo Zuleta over the management of the department. The pair have had a lot of differences over the years. He also said he was initially unable to land in Córdoba due to the risk of an attack.

More reasonable are Petro’s claims that the situation has been exacerbated by water management systems such as reservoirs. These have diverted normal water flows and critically diminished the region’s ability to handle pressure from unusual weather patterns. Zuleta’s response is that the national government oversees the Urrá hydro plant.

The Caribbean coast has been hard hot elsewhere, with Uraba Antioqueño, La Guajira and Sucre joining Córdoba, and the Amazon and Pacific regions have also seen unusually high rainfall for the start of the year.

Even when the rains stop, the long term effects will take years to overcome. Already, bad actors are starting to take advantage of the situation, with desperate houseowners paying through the nose for boaters to rescue their belongings before thieves arrive.

Fields that are now underwater will take an age to fully drain and even longer to recover from the damage currently being wrought upon them. Thousands upon thousands of hectares of farmland will be unusable for the near future.

The post The Córdoba floods in Colombia: How You Can Help appeared first on The Bogotá Post.

President Gustavo Petro on Tuesday declared three days of national mourning in Colombia following a military plane crash on Monday which killed 69 soldiers. 

The accident occurred at the Puerto Leguízamo airport in Putumayo, a region located in the southwest of the country, involving a C-130 Hercules aircraft normally used to transport troops and humanitarian aid to remote regions.

According to the latest official reports, at least 69 soldiers and crew members were killed in the disaster. The military transport plane, belonging to the Colombian Aerospace Force (FAC), was carrying over 120 people when it smashed onto the grounds of a nearby farm just after takeoff. 

During the period of national mourning, Petro confirmed that flags will fly at half-mast and military honors will be given to the victims of the tragedy and their families.

He decretado tres días de duelo en todo el territorio nacional en memoria de los 69 uniformados pertenecientes al Ejército, Fuerza Aeroespacial y la Policía Nacional que perdieron la vida en el accidente aéreo en Puerto Leguízamo – Putumayo el pasado 23 de marzo.

Las banderas… pic.twitter.com/INUAnW4bWy

— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) March 24, 2026

Many households are grieving the loss of their children, but one family in particular mourns the loss of two: brothers Santiago and Daniel Esteban Arias. Originally from Puerto Libertador, in the Caribbean department of Córdoba.

Monday’s crash is one of the worst aviation tragedies in the country’s recent history. In 2016, a plane carrying players from Brazil’s Chapecoense soccer team crashed into the mountains outside Medellín, killing over 70 people. 

Lamentamos profundamente informar que, tras culminar las labores de búsqueda y rescate, hoy confirmamos con dolor los nombres de nuestros héroes que ofrendaron su vida en el accidente aéreo en Puerto Leguízamo, #Putumayo.

Cada uno de ellos partió cumpliendo su deber, con honor,… pic.twitter.com/cr25JbYdjr

— Ejército Nacional de Colombia (@COL_EJERCITO) March 24, 2026

In Puerto Leguízamo, survivors of the military plane crash were transferred to specialized medical centers across the country.

Authorities are investigating the causes of the accident but have dismissed preliminary claims of an attack by guerrilla forces active in the region. 

The Mayor of Puerto Leguízamo, Luis Emilio Bustos Morales, told local media, including Blu Radio and Noticias RCN, that “they have many hypotheses.” 

He noted that among them, “there is talk that they were carrying too much weight” or “that the runway was too short for them.”

During the emergency, residents used their own motorcycles to evacuate the survivors before official help arrived; some of them were also injured by ammunition exploding in the flames. 

The medical center known as ‘Hospital Militar Central’, located in the capital Bogotá, confirmed that a local rescue worker is among those being treated there.

President Petro expressed his gratitude through his X account, stating that “this is how a nation is built.” He thanked the local citizens who rushed to save the survivors. He also highlighted the soldiers who ran to save others during the disaster, calling their actions a “beautiful proof of love and solidarity.”

The painful moments were detailed by soldier Mauro Peñaranda, who survived and described the scene as the aircraft went down to local media outlets: “It was leaning to one side, and there was a weird noise (…) the plane was creaking,” he told RTVC. Mauro also stated that they did not receive clear instructions from the cockpit during the situation. 

“I honestly don’t even know how I got out of there… I just jumped and got out,” he said.

The governments of Ecuador, Panama, France, and the United States, among others, also offered their condolences to the Colombian military forces and the victims’ families.

Featured image: Photo of Colombian military plane crash site in Puerto Leguízamo on March 23, 2026.

The post Colombian president declares three days of national mourning after military plane crash kills 69 appeared first on The Bogotá Post.

What does the name Anto<3 mean, and why is it written like that? Find out all about one of Festival Estéreo Picnic 2026’s most dynamic acts.

Anto<3 are all over the place both orthographically and musically, but in a good way. This is as Gen Z as it comes, gleefully mashing up sounds and styles in an explosion of energy, chaos and unfiltered reality. They’ll definitely start Festival Estéreo Picnic 2026 on the front foot with a shot of adrenaline to the heart.

This is full-throttle music that is relentless and breathless. Explicit and provocative lyrics take you through whirlwind mini-stories told in an effects-heavy style, underpinned by complex, energetic and throbbingly insistent rhythms.

Charismatic singer Antonia Broderick and producer Samuel Huertas take time out to talk to us about their upcoming show at Festival Estéreo Picnic 2026. It’s immediately clear where the energy comes from – Broderick’s eyes dart around while Huertas has a laid-back drawl.

Their opinions on playing the country’s biggest music fest illustrate their personalities well. Broderick leaps in to say “So fucking excited, honestly. I think it’s going to be a really great moment for everyone,” while Huertas adds “Of course, we’ve been here as audience members too, so that’s cool, because it’s from here.”

Broderick’s take on their music is simply to reel off a list of adjectives: “ Intense, punky, hardcore, free, vulnerable.” Some of that might seem contradictory, but that’s part of the point of the band. Trying to pigeonhole them is a fool’s errand, constantly getting lost as they flit seamlessly and effortlessly between genres.

Huertas tells us that fusion is key to their sound, saying that they have “Electronica with Colombian things – a lot of trap and reggaeton, I don’t know what more. Rock, also, and emo?” The former are clear in the beats while the latter two often come through in the lyrics, with candid expressions of sadness and allusions to depression alongside a celebration of vice and hedonism.

He also has time for more classic sounds, even if repurposed and refashioned for a 2026 audience. “We also have like cumbia, but mixed with new genres. Some of our songs are really traditional, which is cool.” It’s not the first thing you’ll hear, but it comes out on repeat listens.

Playing with the idea of romance, they gleefully announce their new single: the charmingly named Romantikunt. It’s a bold name, to be sure, illustrative of how few fucks they give as to what others may think. Broderick seems to relish anglo-saxon words, liberally dropping ‘fucks’ throughout her songs.

And that iconoclastic, playful band name? It comes from the delightfulness of a peck on the cheek, as Broderick explains “The name is because I love the emoticon, it’s like a heart and I think I’m really romantic. It’s basically Anto-heart, but more cool.”

It’s a name that encapsulates the band: it’s Gen Z already-ironic emoticons, tells you they don’t give a fuck about classic forms and is jarring to see, while adding that twist of sugar that sweetens the message just enough to make Anto<3 fun.

Anto<3 play the Páramo stage at 3pm on Sunday March 22 at Festival Estéreo Picnic 2026

The post Festival Estéreo Picnic 2026: Anto<3 bring the energy appeared first on The Bogotá Post.