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☆ Magnitude 6.3 quake shakes Colombian capital, one dead
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BOGOTA, Aug 17 (Reuters) - A strong earthquake of 6.3 magnitude struck the Colombian capital Bogota on Thursday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, prompting frightened residents to flee into the street and leading a woman to fall to her death. There were no immediate reports of major damage from the quake, which Colombia's national geological service reported as a magnitude 6.1. "It was strong, and lasted a long time, said Adrian Alarcon, 43, who works near the capital's busy Park 93 district. [1/5]A Medical personnel of the Primavera clinic helps to evacuate patients after a strong earthquake in Villavicencio, Colombia, August 17, 2023. Colombia's national geological service estimated the second quake at a 5.6 magnitude, with the following aftershock measured at 4.8.

Persons: Adrian Alarcon, Claudia Lopez, Santiago Molina, Lopez, Julia Symmes Cobb, Oliver Griffin, Luis Jaime Acosta, Sarah Morland, David Alire Garcia, Alistair Bell Organizations: . Geological Survey, Primavera, REUTERS, Windows, Thomson Locations: BOGOTA, Colombian, Bogota, Villavicencio, Colombia, Madelena, Calvario

☆ Prosecutor, defense request house arrest for son of Colombian president
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Luis Jaime Acosta | Thomson Reuters | Luis Jaime Has Worked At Reuters For More Than Years. While He Chiefly Covers Colombia'S Armed Conflict | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Defendant and son of Colombian president Gustavo Petro, Nicolas Petro attends a hearing in Bogota, Colombia August 3, 2023 in this screengrab taken from a handout video. Colombian Prosecutor's Office/Handout via REUTERSBOGOTA, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Both the prosecution and the defense in a money laundering and illicit enrichment case against Nicolas Petro, the eldest son of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, on Friday requested house arrest for the younger Petro. Petro, 37, was arrested last weekend in the city of Barranquilla alongside his ex-wife, Daysuris del Carmen Vasquez, who is being held on similar charges. Both prosecutor Burgos and Petro's defense attorney David Teleki supported a house arrest measure in a morning hearing, with Teleki citing the impeding birth of Petro's child with his current partner. According to the charges, Nicolas Petro received money from accused drug traffickers in exchange for including them in the president's peace plans.

Persons: Gustavo Petro, Nicolas Petro, Petro, Daysuris del Carmen Vasquez, Mario Burgos, Burgos, David Teleki, pained, Luis Jaime Acosta, Julia Symmes Cobb, Alistair Bell Organizations: Colombian Prosecutor's, REUTERS, Teleki, Thomson Locations: Bogota, Colombia, REUTERS BOGOTA, Barranquilla, Atlantico province

☆ Colombia, ELN rebels start six-month ceasefire
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Luis Jaime Acosta | Thomson Reuters | Luis Jaime Has Worked At Reuters For More Than Years. While He Chiefly Covers Colombia'S Armed Conflict | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/7] An attendee looks on during an event with peace negotiators of Colombia's government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels, in Bogota, Colombia August 3, 2023. "Welcome to peace," Petro told the inauguration of a committee meant to ensure civil society participation in the talks. The government's high peace commissioner, Danilo Rueda, had said on Tuesday the ceasefire would safeguard civilians and protect them from crimes like kidnapping. The United Nations Secretary-General congratulated the two sides on the ceasefire in a statement on Thursday, hailing its potential to reduce civilian suffering. The U.N. Verification Mission in Colombia will monitor the effort under a mandate form the Security Council.

Persons: Vannessa Jimenez, Gustavo Petro's, Petro, Eliecer Herlinto Chamorro, guerre Antonio Garcia, Danilo Rueda, Aureliano Carbonell, Carbonell, del, Rueda, Luis Jaime Acosta, Oliver Griffin, Leslie Adler Organizations: National Liberation Army, REUTERS, United Nations, Security Council, Force, Clan, Reuters, Congress, Estado Mayor Central, Revolutionary Armed Forces, Segunda, Thomson Locations: Bogota, Colombia, Vannessa Jimenez BOGOTA, Petro

☆ Son of Colombia's president pleads not guilty to money laundering charges
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nicolas Petro, son of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, speaks at the Atlantic Assembly in Barranquilla, Colombia on March 14, 2023, in this screengrab taken from a handout video. Asamblea del Atlantico / Handout via REUTERS/File PhotoBOGOTA, Aug 1 (Reuters) - The eldest son of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, Nicolas Petro, on Tuesday pled not guilty to charges of money laundering and illicit enrichment at a court in Bogota, the capital. By denying the charges, Nicolas Petro lost the chance to secure a 50% reduction of any sentence if convicted. The president's son could receive a sentence of between 12 and 20 years if found guilty during a trial, according to lawyers. Vasquez also denied the charges of money laundering and violating data protection laws.

Persons: Nicolas Petro, Gustavo Petro, Daysuris del Carmen Vasquez, Vasquez, Petro, Luis Jaime Acosta, Oliver Griffin, Leslie Adler Organizations: Atlantic Assembly, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Barranquilla, Colombia, del Atlantico, Handout, BOGOTA, Bogota, Atlantico province

BOGOTA, July 27 (Reuters) - Colombian police have seized property and bank accounts worth 1.3 trillion pesos ($329 million), proceeds from the sale and export of stolen crude oil, officials said on Thursday. To sell the stolen oil, criminal groups mixed it with legally-bought crude so it could be exported via front companies, police said. Colombia's majority state-owned oil company Ecopetrol (ECO.CN) was the main victim of the scheme, costing it 60 billion pesos, police added. The gangs stole crude from Colombia's Cano Limon-Covenas pipeline which runs parallel to the border with Venezuela. Furthermore, "large quantities" of light Venezuelan crude were brought into Colombia before being mixed with Colombian oil and exported via the Cano Limon-Covenas pipeline, the statement said.

Persons: Cano, Katherine Casas, Cano Limon, Luis Jaime Acosta, Oliver Griffin, Grant McCool Organizations: Colombian, Interpol, Reuters, National Liberation Army, Police, Thomson Locations: BOGOTA, Narino province, Venezuela, Pacific, Buenaventura, Colombia

☆ Top FARC dissident leader Ivan Marquez dead, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Luis Jaime Acosta | Thomson Reuters | Luis Jaime Has Worked At Reuters For More Than Years. While He Chiefly Covers Colombia'S Armed Conflict | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The attack against Marquez, whose real name was Luciano Marín Arango, may have been led by Ivan Mordisco, leader of a rival FARC dissident group, according to security sources. Colombia's Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez told journalists there was still no official information on Marquez's death. Marquez later emerged as the leader of the so-called Segunda Marquetalia, a group of former FARC who took up arms anew. Marquez died in Venezuela the two people familiar with the matter told Reuters, which also included an intelligence source. Petro reopened diplomatic and trade relations with Venezuela and Venezuela is a guarantor at Colombia's peace talks with the National Liberation Army rebels.

Persons: Ivan Marquez, Marquez, Luciano Marín Arango, Ivan Mordisco, Ivan Velasquez, Gustavo Petro, Miguel Botache Santillana, Gentil Duarte, Seuxis Hernandez, Hernan Dario Velasquez, Jesus Santrich, El Paisa, Nicolas Maduro, Petro, Luis Jaime Acosta, Vivian Sequera, Oliver Griffin, Julia Symmes Cobb, Michael Perry Organizations: Reuters, Revolutionary Armed Forces, Segunda, Colombia's, Venezuela's Ministry, Information, National Liberation Army, Thomson Locations: BOGOTA, Venezuela, Colombia, Caracas, Venezuela's, United States, Colombian

☆ Top FARC dissident leader Ivan Marquez dead - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Luis Jaime Acosta | Thomson Reuters | Luis Jaime Has Worked At Reuters For More Than Years. While He Chiefly Covers Colombia'S Armed Conflict | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BOGOTA, July 6 (Reuters) - Ivan Marquez, the well-known leader of a faction of former FARC rebels who returned to arms after a peace deal with Colombia's government, has died in Venezuela, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday. The attack against Marquez, whose real name was Luciano Marín Arango, may have been led by Ivan Mordisco, leader of a rival FARC dissident group, according to security sources. Colombia's Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez told journalists there was still no official information on Marquez's death. Marquez later emerged as the leader of the so-called Segunda Marquetalia, a group of former FARC who took up arms anew. Petro reopened diplomatic and trade relations with Venezuela and Venezuela is a guarantor at Colombia's peace talks with the National Liberation Army rebels.

☆ Four missing Colombian children found alive weeks after plane crash
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( Luis Jaime Acosta | Thomson Reuters | Luis Jaime Has Worked At Reuters For More Than Years. While He Chiefly Covers Colombia'S Armed Conflict | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BOGOTA, June 9 (Reuters) - Four children from an Indigenous community in Colombia were found alive in the south of the country more than five weeks after the plane they were traveling in crashed in thick jungle, Colombia's President Gustavo Petro said on Friday. The children were rescued by the military near the border between Colombia's Caqueta and Guaviare provinces, close to where the small plane had crashed. The four children who were lost ... in the Colombian jungle appeared alive," Petro said in a message via Twitter. Three adults, including the pilot, died as a result of the crash and their bodies were found inside the plane. Preliminary information from the civil aviation authority, which coordinated the rescue efforts, suggests the children escaped the plane and set off into the rainforest to find help.

Persons: Gustavo Petro, Petro, San Jose del Guaviare, Luis Jaime Acosta, Oliver Griffin, Jamie Freed Organizations: Cessna, Thomson Locations: BOGOTA, Colombia, Colombia's, Guaviare, Colombian, Araracuara, Amazonas province, San Jose, Guaviare province

☆ Child plane crash survivors get medical care in Bogota after weeks in jungle
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( Luis Jaime Acosta | Thomson Reuters | Luis Jaime Has Worked At Reuters For More Than Years. While He Chiefly Covers Colombia'S Armed Conflict | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] A view of ambulances and a plane from San Jose del Guaviare bringing in child survivors from a Cessna 206 plane that crashed in thick jungle, at the CATAM military airbase, in Bogota, Colombia, June 10, 2023. REUTERS/Luisa GonzalezBOGOTA, June 10 (Reuters) - Four Indigenous children who were missing for more than five weeks in a jungle in Colombia's south following a deadly plane crash arrived in the capital Bogota early on Saturday for medical treatment. In photos shared by Colombia's military, the four children - three girls and a boy - appeared gaunt as they were being cared for by rescuers. After the plane carrying the children landed in Bogota, four ambulances were waiting at to collect them and take them to a military hospital for specialist medical care. Three adults, including the pilot and the children's mother, died in the crash and their bodies were found inside the plane.

Persons: San Jose del Guaviare, Luisa Gonzalez BOGOTA, Hope, Pedro Sanchez, gaunt, Luis Jaime Acosta, Oliver Griffin, Jamie Freed Organizations: Cessna, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: San Jose, Bogota, Colombia, Colombia's, Colombia's Caqueta, Araracuara, Caqueta, Guaviare

☆ Child plane crash survivors in "acceptable" state of health
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BOGOTA, June 10 (Reuters) - Four Indigenous children who were missing for more than five weeks in Colombia's southern jungle, after surviving a plane crash which killed their mother, are in an "acceptable" state of health, the government said on Saturday. "In general the boy and the girls are in an acceptable state. The youngest of the children turned one while in the jungle, while her brother had his fifth birthday, he said. Clues as to the siblings' whereabouts have been reported for weeks as the search, dubbed Operation Hope, continued. Three adults, including the pilot and the children's mother, died in the crash and their bodies were found inside the plane.

Persons: Gustavo Petro, Petro, Ivan Velasquez, Fidencio Valencia, Velasquez, General Carlos Rincon, Hope, Wilson, gaunt, Manuel Ranoque, San Jose del Guaviare, Carolina Pulice, Luis Jaime Acosta, Nelson Bocanegra, Oliver Griffin, Jamie Freed, Andrea Ricci Organizations: Twitter, Cessna, Thomson Locations: BOGOTA, Caqueta province, Bogota, Araracuara, Caqueta, San Jose, Guaviare

☆ Colombia Cano Limon-Covenas oil pipeline bombed
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BOGOTA, May 30 (Reuters) - Colombia's Cano Limon-Covenas pipeline was bombed by unknown actors, operator Cenit said in a statement on Tuesday, prolonging the suspension of pumping crude between oil fields in the country's northeast and the Caribbean coast, where the oil is exported. Colombia's military is working to secure the area, Cenit added. Pumping along the pipeline has been suspended since April 14 due to other attacks. Restarting operations will depend on the military's ability to secure the area where the attacks took place while repairs continue. The Cano Limon-Covenas pipeline, which can transport up to 210,000 barrels of oil per day and runs along Colombia's northern border with Venezuela, was attacked 13 times last year, leading to fires and contamination of the surrounding area.

Persons: Colombia's Cano Limon, Cenit, Cano Limon, Luis Jaime Acosta, Oliver Griffin, Leslie Adler Organizations: National Liberation Army, Thomson Locations: BOGOTA, Caribbean, Saravena, Arauca province, Venezuela

☆ Colombia suspends ceasefire with Estado Mayor Central rebels in some areas
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Luis Jaime Acosta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BOGOTA, May 22 (Reuters) - Colombia's government on Monday suspended a national ceasefire with the Estado Mayor Central (EMC) armed group in some provinces, following the murder of four Indigenous teenagers. The EMC was founded by dissident former members of the now-demobilized FARC rebels, who reject a 2016 peace deal signed by that group. "The current bilateral ceasefire with this armed group in the provinces of Meta, Caqueta, Guaviare and Putumayo is suspended and all offensive operations are reactivated," the government said in a statement. The EMC has an estimated 3,500 members, including nearly 2,200 combatants, and operates in 23 of Colombia's 32 provinces, according to security force documents. Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; editing by John StonestreetOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Colombian children found alive in jungle weeks after plane crash
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The children were rescued by members of the military, firefighters and civil aviation authority officials in the dense jungle of Colombia's Caqueta province. "After arduous searching by our military, we have found alive the four children who went missing after a plane crash in Guaviare. A joy for the country," Petro said in a message via Twitter. Three adults, including the pilot, died as a result of the crash and their bodies were found inside the plane. Rescuers, supported by search dogs, had previously found discarded fruit the children ate to survive, as well as improvised shelters made with jungle vegetation.

☆ Colombia's ELN guerrilla group warns of peace talks 'crisis'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BOGOTA, May 15 (Reuters) - Colombian leftwing guerrilla group the National Liberation Army (ELN) on Monday said peace talks with the government were in crisis due to comments made by President Gustavo Petro. Petro had questioned the unity of the group's leadership and ordered Colombia's military to target illicit activity such as drug trafficking that finance illegal armed groups. "The peace talks cannot be subject to the fluctuations in the public statements of the president," the ELN said in a statement. The government says the group finances itself through drug trafficking, illegal mining and kidnapping. Negotiations with the ELN under previous administrations faltered on the group's diffuse chain of command and dissent within its ranks.

☆ Colombia cancels flights returning migrants from US, cites mistreatment
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Colombia expected to receive some 1,200 migrants in flights programmed to arrive from the U.S. during the first week of May, the migration agency said in a statement. The plan was suspended after flights programmed for May 1 and May 2 were canceled, Colombia's migration agency said. "Before the arrival of the scheduled flights ... both were canceled by the North American immigration agencies," Fernando Garcia, head of Colombia's migration agency, said in the statement. Colombia's migration agency did not immediately confirm whether flights carrying other migrants would go ahead. Garcia blasted cruel and degrading treatment that some migrants were subjected to before boarding and during the flights, including use of cuffs for hands and feet.

Exxon has held eight exploration and production contracts in Colombia, including the fracking pilot. All either have been or are being ended, suspended or liquidated, Colombia's National Hydrocarbon Agency (ANH) told Reuters. The proposed bill would ban development of non-conventional energy projects including fracking. "We will continue to have constructive dialogue with the Colombian government on a comprehensive assessment of our unconventional investments," Exxon spokesperson Michelle Gray told Reuters. Exxon said it continuously evaluates and prioritize investments, including those in Colombia.

☆ Colombian president asks cabinet to resign ahead of reshuffle - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BOGOTA, April 25 (Reuters) - Colombia's President Gustavo Petro has asked his cabinet ministers to resign ahead of a reshuffle, two sources told Reuters late on Tuesday, as the leftist leader said he had lost his majority coalition in Congress. "The political coalition agreed as a majority has ended today due to decisions of some party presidents," Petro said in a message via Twitter late on Tuesday. Petro has largely backed his ministers, including Velez, though disagreement over the health reform proposal already lead to the exit of the education minister, Alejandro Gaviria. Interior Minister Alfonso Prada could be take over as defense minister, said one government source who declined to be identified. Others, including Velez, could hold on to their posts, the source said.

[1/5] Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Colombian Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva attend an international conference on the political crisis in Venezuela, at Palacio de San Carlos in Bogota, Colombia April 25, 2023. The meeting in Bogota, hosted by Colombian President Gustavo Petro with support from the United States, included Spain, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Brazil and others. The meeting was meant to help Maduro and the opposition restart stalled talks in Mexico focused on free elections and the possible lifting of sanctions against the government. Attendees found common ground over the need for free elections and lifting of sanctions parallel to agreements between the two sides, he said. The Mexico talks, held briefly last year and in 2021, are supposed to provide a roadmap out of the long-running crisis.

☆ Some people living near Colombian volcano loathe to evacuate
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] The Arenas crater is seen after the authorities declared an orange alert at the Nevado del Ruiz volcano and asked the population for a preventive evacuation in Herveo, Colombia April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Andres Camilo ValenciaBOGOTA, April 6 (Reuters) - Colombia's government is trying to speed up the evacuation of some 2,500 families living closest to the Nevado del Ruiz volcano, which is being monitored for a possible eruption, but some residents are refusing to leave. The volcano's eruption in 1985 killed more than 25,000 people in Colombia's biggest-ever natural disaster, with avalanches of earth and rock fragments burying entire settlements. "It doesn't scare me because it already exploded," said Evelio Ortiz, a potato farmer who survived the 1985 eruption with his wife and five children. The Nevado del Ruiz is a stratovolcano or composite volcano.

☆ Some people living near Colombian volcano are loath to evacuate
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

☆ Ride-hailing app Cabify raises $110 mln for expansion in LatAm, Spain
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BOGOTA, March 28 (Reuters) - Spanish ride-hailing app Cabify has raised $110 million in financing aimed at accelerating its growth in Latin America and Spain, the company said on Tuesday. Cabify closed the funding round with participation from investors like Orilla Asset Management and AXIS, through Fond-ICO Next Tech. In December Cabify secured a 40 million euro loan from the European Investment Bank aimed at purchasing electric vehicles. The company aims for all rides through its app to be in zero-emission vehicles by 2025 in Spain and by 2030 in Latin America. With over 42 million registered users and 1.2 million drivers, Cabify employees over 1,000 people in Spain and Latin America.

☆ Colombian president accuses criminal group of breaking ceasefire
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BOGOTA, March 13 (Reuters) - Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Monday said the Clan del Golfo, the country's largest criminal organization, has broken a ceasefire and there is no possibility of negotiations with the group if they continue attacks. In a radio interview, Petro accused the group of destroying a municipal aqueduct in Antioquia province amid roadblocks connected to protests by informal gold miners. The Clan del Golfo versus humble people," Petro said in a Twitter message on Sunday. Gold miner Mineros SA has suspended operations in the region until it can guarantee security, it said in a statement. The government's National Mining Agency (ANM) last year said it would create a public company to help informal miners and put a dent in Colombia's illegal gold trade.

☆ Colombia, Ecuador working to prevent Indigenous abuse by armed groups
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Luis Jaime Acosta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BOGOTA, March 7 (Reuters) - The human rights ombudsmen of Colombia and Ecuador on Tuesday launched a joint alert system to prevent abuses by illegal armed groups from affecting Awa Indigenous communities that live along the countries' shared border. Some 29,000 Indigenous Awa people live along the border and are subject to killings, forced displacement, land mines and recruitment of minors, among other ills, by armed groups, Colombia's ombudsman said. "The possibility of carrying out their operations along a porous border - with gaps in state presence - favors the interests of illegal groups," Colombia's Ombudsman Carlos Camargo said. Armed groups hide arms and combatants on the Ecuadorean side of the border, Camargo added. Camargo called on the armed groups to stop attacks on Indigenous communities and accede to policies of total peace pushed by the government of Colombia's leftist President Gustavo Petro.

☆ Two dead, dozens of police held hostage in Colombia in protest against oil company
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The attorney general's office should investigate the killings, while the Red Cross should attend to those being held hostage, he said. The office of human rights ombudsman Carlos Camargo confirmed in a statement a policeman and a civilian had been killed. Officials from Camargo's office were accompanying the police officers and Emerald employees who were being held, the office said on Twitter. Protests in areas close to oil and mining projects regularly occur in Colombia as communities push for companies to build infrastructure including roads and schools. Reuters could not immediately reach Emerald Energy, a subsidiary of China's state-owned company Sinochem, for comment.

☆ Colombia's Viva Air grounds fleet after Avianca merger hold-up
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BOGOTA, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Viva Air said it has temporarily suspended operations as the indebted low-cost carrier awaited a ruling by Colombia's civil aviation authority on its proposed merger with Avianca (AVT_p.CN). Viva Air said late on Monday it had halted ticket sales and grounded its entire fleet after the regulator allowed five other airlines including Aerolineas Argentinas and JetSMART to take part in the merger process. Low-cost carrier JetSMART and regional giant LATAM Airlines have both expressed an interest in buying Viva Air. LATAM, Avianca and local airline Satena will offer alternatives to stranded passengers on some routes at no additional cost, the civil aviation authority said. Colombia's superintendency of transportation will open an investigation against Viva Air, which could result in possible sanctions, it said.

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