Colombia

World News

'A Huge Opportunity': Venezuelan Migrants Welcome Colombia's New Open-Door Policy

4:15pm February 26, 2021

by John Otis

Colombia's president has unveiled a program to let undocumented Venezuelan migrants live and work legally in the country for up to 10 years. Nearly a million Venezuelans in Colombia lack legal status.

An employee places bouquets on shelves in Bogotá on Feb. 1, as Colombia prepares to export flowers for Valentine's Day amid the new coronavirus pandemic.

There's A Good Chance Your Valentine's Flowers Come From Colombia

8:01am February 14, 2021

by John Otis

The country is the top flower exporter to the U.S. When the pandemic hit, farmers feared they'd have to destroy flower beds and lay off thousands of workers. Here's why that didn't happen.

Colombian President Ivan Duque (right) and UN High Commissioner for Refugees Italian Filippo Grandi (left) held a briefing in Bogota on Feb. 8 to announce the temporary regularization of almost one million undocumented Venezuelans living in Colombia.

World News

Colombia Offers Temporary Legal Status To Nearly 1 Million Venezuelan Migrants

1:11pm February 09, 2021

by Rachel Treisman

The move will allow migrants to work legally in Colombia, obtain 10-year residence permits and access social services including healthcare and COVID-19 vaccines.

Ana Teresa Castillo, who runs a shelter for Venezuelan migrants in the Colombian border town of Villa del Rosario, says she is tending to many more rape victims now than before the pandemic began. She blames the closing of official border posts and gangs

World News

Women Fleeing Venezuela Are Targeted With Sexual Assault As They Cross Into Colombia

7:36pm January 29, 2021

by John Otis

Human rights activists have reported a sharp increase in sexual assaults and human trafficking involving Venezuelan women and girls trying to reach Colombia since the border closed amid the pandemic.

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Members of Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) protest against the death of George Floyd outside U.S. Consulate in solidarity with Black Lives Matter movement on June 8, 2020 in Sandton, South Africa.

World News

In 2020, Protests Spread Across The Globe With A Similar Message: Black Lives Matter

8:49am December 30, 2020

Journalists based in Colombia, South Africa and Indonesia talk about how the Black Lives Matter movement inspired activists abroad this year.

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People who migrated from Venezuela to Colombia are deported.

World News

Large Venezuelan Migration Sparks Xenophobic Backlash In Colombia

10:02am December 29, 2020

by John Otis

About 2 million Venezuelans have settled in Colombia in recent years amid their country's deep economic crisis. Some of the migrants are shocked by their neighbors' anti-Venezuelan attitudes.

The statue of Sebastián de Belalcázar, a 16th century Spanish conquistador, lies on the ground after it was pulled down by Indigenous people in Popayán, Colombia, earlier this year.

World News

U.S. Statue Removals Inspire Indigenous People In Latin America To Topple Monuments

1:54pm September 30, 2020

by John Otis

The latest target was a statue of Sebastián de Belalcázar, a Spanish conquistador who founded two Colombian cities and led a military campaign that killed and enslaved thousands of Indigenous people.

Contraband fuel sits on the side of a road in Puerto Santander, Colombia, on May 31, 2019. The Venezuelan government's lack of cash to import gasoline combined with U.S. sanctions targeting the oil sector have led to chronic fuel shortages in Venezuela. T

World News

Venezuela's Fuel Shortage Upends Longtime Colombian Border Gas Smuggling Trade

12:07pm September 10, 2020

by John Otis

Motorists near Colombia's border with Venezuela used to opt for cheaper, smuggled gas from the neighboring country. Now the tables have turned.

Former Colombian President (2002-2010) and Sen. Álvaro Uribe goes to a hearing before the Supreme Court of Justice in a case over witness tampering in Bogotá, Colombia, on Oct. 8, 2019. The Supreme Court has now ordered Uribe be put under house arrest.

Colombia's Ex-President Uribe Is Put Under House Arrest, Catches Coronavirus

5:49pm August 05, 2020

by John Otis

The Supreme Court ordered house arrest as it investigates whether he had a role in a scheme to bribe witnesses in a case involving to right-wing paramilitary death squads.

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Police stand guard during a government order for residents to stay home, to help contain the spread of the new coronavirus, as a resident walks to a food store in Soacha on the outskirts of Bogotá, Colombia, on March 25.

World News

Colombia Sees Bouts Of Looting As Coronavirus Fallout Puts People Out Of Work

3:59pm July 17, 2020

by John Otis

The most dramatic case occurred earlier this month when a scramble to steal gasoline ended in a hellish fireball. Other recent incidents involved residents pilfering a humanitarian aid vehicle.

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