Colombia

World News

Undoing A Permanent 'Oops': Colombian Scholars Tackle Tattoo Typos

1:56pm August 06, 2015

by Camila Domonoske

This year's Festival of the Word in Bogota will feature the usual authors and linguists — plus a professional tattoo artist. Some visitors can have spelling errors inked into their skin fixed, free.

Abel Rodriguez showed off his basket-weaving skills at the 2011 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

A Self-Taught Artist Paints The Rain Forest By Memory

3:47pm August 05, 2015

by Jessie Rack

He'd never drawn before. Then he was asked to depict the Colombian rain forest he knew so well. Naturalists cherish the ink-and-watercolor works of Abel Rodriguez. And so do art lovers.

Spanish designer Alvaro Catalan de Ocon taught Colombian artisans how to recycle plastic bottles into art using traditional weaving techniques. The sale of these lamps helps support local communities.

Rivers Run Through This Exhibit Of Colombian Art

7:18am August 03, 2015

by Jessie Rack

With burbling videos and cascades of linen and plastic that seem to pour from the ceiling, Waterweavers shows how rivers, fibers and recycled bottles are all part of the culture of the country.

Colombian cyclist Nairo Quintana poses for a snapshot during a training session this month in Colombia.

The Cycling World May Soon Bow Down Before Nairo Quintana

9:40am July 25, 2015

by John Otis

In 2013, a newcomer from Colombia passed almost everyone else and came in second in the Tour de France. This year, many think he'll take home the winning yellow jersey.

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Franklin Canacuan strips the leaves from his coca bushes in southern Colombia. He says his daughter became ill after she was doused with weed killer while playing outside.

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Colombia Will End Coca Crop-Dusting, Citing Health Concerns

10:29pm May 18, 2015

by John Otis

The U.S.-funded aerial spraying program has been aimed at killing the plants that feed the cocaine industry. Colombia says one of the chemicals in the spray may cause illnesses.

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A Colombian soldier searches for land mines laid by rebel fighters.

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The Second Most Dangerous Country For Land Mines Begins To De-Mine

7:54pm April 07, 2015

by John Otis

As the 51-year-old civil war in Colombia winds down, efforts to find and destroy the many mines are underway.

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Singing About Chikungunya Might Not Cure You But Will Make You Laugh

5:35pm March 13, 2015

by Poncie Rutsch

As one song puts it, the painful disease is "a crazy mess that you can't contain." So why not sing about it? Music videos from Latin America are going viral, just like chikungunya.

Miss Colombia Paulina Vega poses during the Miss Universe pageant in Miami, on Jan. 25. Vega has been invited to participate in peace talks between her country's government and Marxist rebels.

Colombian Rebels Invite Miss Universe To Join Peace Talks

1:20pm February 08, 2015

by Scott Neuman

Paulina Vega, 22, said in interviews that she wanted to help end her country's 50-year civil war. So, FARC asked her to attend talks in Havana.

A man carries a bag with coca leaves in December 2013 in a rural area of Corinto, department of Cauca, Colombia. The Colombian government and the FARC are attempting address the issue of "illicit cultivation" as the third point of their ongoing peace talk

World News

Colombia's Coca Farmers Face Uncertain Future As FARC Negotiates Peace

7:39pm January 20, 2015

As part of talks, the leftist revolutionary group is offering to help end Colombia's cocaine trade, but previous attempts to encourage coca farmers to grow something else have been disastrous.

Colombia Calls Off Peace Talks With Rebels Over Captured General

12:15pm November 17, 2014

by Eyder Peralta

The talks were designed to end 50 years of fighting between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.