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REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez ViloriaCARACAS, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Colombia and the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel group said on Saturday they will resume peace talks in Mexico next month, overcoming a recent impasse after the government recently declared and then called off a bilateral ceasefire. There was a first cycle of talks last year in Caracas to end the guerrillas' part in nearly six decades of war. The about-face on the ceasefire came after ELN said it had not agreed to it. "In said cycle, the issue of society's participation in peace building will be addressed. Colombia and the ELN said they would jointly examine progress in implementing agreements reached during the first cycle of talks and agreed to keep communication channels open even when not at the negotiating table.

☆ Guatemala summons ambassador in Colombia for consultations in defense minister tussle
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

GUATEMALA CITY, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Guatemala summoned its ambassador in Colombia for consultations, Guatemala's foreign ministry said on Tuesday, a day after Colombia did the same in regard to a conflict over Colombia's defense minister. Guatemala on Monday accused Colombian Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez, who led a United Nations anti-corruption unit in the Central American country, of committing illegal acts. Colombian President Gustavo Petro came out to defend the minister, saying he would not accept any "order for the arrest" of Velasquez. Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei told Spanish news agency EFE on Tuesday that Velasquez was not facing "criminal prosecution." Arrest warrants were issued for several others as part of the investigation, including former Guatemalan Attorney General Thelma Aldana.

☆ Colombia, ELN rebels likely to hold emergency meeting in Caracas-negotiator
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BOGOTA, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Colombia and the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel group could hold an emergency meeting in Caracas as early as this week, the head of the government negotiating team said on Tuesday. Colombia declared and then called off a bilateral ceasefire with the group last week after the ELN said it had not agreed to the move. But Mexico was not yet ready to host, Otty Patino, the head of the government's negotiating team told Blu Radio and the two sides could hold a prior meeting back in Caracas this week or next. A meeting in Caracas "is not a cycle but an emergency meeting" he added. Petro, who took office last year, has pledged to seek peace agreements or surrender deals with armed groups of all stripes.

☆ Colombia VP Francia Marquez says explosive found near her home
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BOGOTA, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Colombia's Vice President Francia Marquez, the first Black woman to hold that post in her country, said on Tuesday her security team had found an explosive near her family home. The vice president's Twitter post included images of what appeared to be an improvised explosive device and a police report about the incident. "The attached report shows that it was a new attempt of attacking my life. Regardless, we won't stop working every day, day after day, until we reach total peace," she added. Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Chile, Colombia call for extraordinary OAS meeting after Brazil riots
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SANTIAGO, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Chilean President Gabriel Boric called for an extraordinary meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS) on Monday to address riots in Brazil where supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed top government buildings. Boric, speaking alongside Colombia President Gustavo Petro outside La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago, called Sunday's riots "unacceptable" and also condemned "complicit silence." Petro, a former rebel and Colombia's first leftist president, compared the attack to the 1973 Chilean coup against Salvador Allende. "We just saw it in Brazil, but it's not just in Brazil," Petro said. Reporting by Alexander Villegas in Santiago and Julia Symmes Cobb Editing by Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Bolsonaro supporters invade Brazil presidential palace, Congress, Supreme Court
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Supporters of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro take part in a protest to ask for federal intervention outside the Army headquarters in Brasilia, on November 2, 2022. Supporters of Brazil's far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro on Sunday invaded the country's Congress, presidential palace and Supreme Court, in a grim echo of the U.S. Capitol invasion two years ago by fans of former President Donald Trump. Television images showed protesters breaking into the Supreme Court and Congress, chanting slogans and smashing furniture. The Supreme Court was ransacked by the occupiers, according to social media images that showed protesters shattering the windows of the modernist building. "Violence has no place in a democracy," Douglas Koneff, the U.S. chargé d'affaires in Brasilia, wrote on Twitter.

☆ Global leaders condemn assault on Brazilian government buildings
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Brazil's democratic institutions have our full support and the will of the Brazilian people must not be undermined. Using violence to attack democratic institutions is always unacceptable. BOLIVIAN PRESIDENT LUIS ARCE"We strongly condemn the assault on the Brazilian Congress, Palace and Supreme Court by anti-democratic groups. A return to normality is urgently needed and we express solidarity with Brazilian institutions. We categorically condemn the assault on the Brazilian Congress and make a call for the immediate return to democratic normality."

☆ Colombia's ELN rebels say they have not agreed to ceasefire
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

His government held a first round of peace talks with the ELN in December. Over the weekend Petro said Colombia would hold a six-month ceasefire with the ELN and four other armed groups. "The negotiations delegation of the ELN has not discussed with the government of Gustavo Petro any proposal for a bilateral ceasefire, so there exists no agreement on that issue," the ELN said in a statement posted on its website. "Once we finish (that issue) it is predicted we will be available to discuss the bilateral ceasefire proposal, to examine the terms to make a deal possible," the rebels added. Rebel leaders have said the group is united, but it is unclear how much sway negotiators hold over active units.

☆ After years, private vehicles start crossing Colombia-Venezuela border again
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Juan Pablo BayonaURENA, Venezuela, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Private vehicles started crossing between Colombia and Venezuela for the first time in years on Sunday, marking the total opening of the shared border, in addition to cargo and people that have been transiting. The full opening of the common border follows years of tense relations between the two countries that have eased after Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a leftist, took office in August last year. German Umana, Colombia's commerce minister, told reporters at the crossing that the move would be positive for the economies and societies of both countries. "We will never allow it again," Umana said in reference to closure of the border. Late last year, Colombian and Venezuelan authorities authorized the opening of the crossing on the Atanasio Girardot bridge, known as Tienditas, the western Venezuelan border state Tachira state.

☆ Colombia announces ceasefire with five illegal armed groups
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BOGOTA, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a leftist and former guerrilla, announced late on Saturday a January ceasefire with five illegal armed groups to support peace talks. Petro has pledged to end the Andean nation's internal conflict, which has run for almost six decades and left at least 450,000 dead between 1985 and 2018. "The bilateral ceasefire obliges the armed organizations and the state to respect it. Among the groups are leftist guerrilla group the National Liberation Army (ELN) as well as dissident groups run by former members of the now-demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Segunda Marquetalia and Estado Mayor Central. The government added that it would issue a specific decree for each of the organizations, which will determine the durations and conditions of the ceasefire.

☆ Venezuela and Colombia fully reopen shared border
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

CARACAS, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Venezuela and Colombia will fully reopen their shared border on January 1 to allow passage of cargo and passenger transport via the cross-border Tienditas bridge, Colombia Migration said in a statement on Saturday. The South American countries already reopened in September their border crossing in the Tachira state, in western Venezuela, after political ties strengthened under Colombia's new president, Gustavo Petro. Colombian authorities have said since September that the reopening of the shared 2,200 kilometers (1,367 miles) border between the two countries would be progressive. Elsewhere, people and cargo can already cross the border via two bridges in Tachira as well as the western Zulia state. The commercial exchange between the two countries is worth around $580 million, according to official data from Colombia.

☆ Colombia, Ecuador agree joint plan to tackle organized crime on border
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Daniel TapiaBOGOTA, Dec 28 (Reuters) - The armed forces of Colombia and Ecuador on Wednesday signed an agreement to implement a plan to contain drug trafficking and organized crime on their shared border, authorities in both countries said. Colombia and Ecuador share a porous border that stretches some 586 kilometers and where criminal gangs and illegal armed groups engage in smuggling and drug trafficking. "Efforts currently under our responsibility to eliminate drug trafficking, environmental crimes, smuggling, and other areas will not decline," General Helder Giraldo, the general commander of Colombia's military, said in another statement. The government of Colombian President Gustavo Petro in November called on countries with which it shares a border to work together on a military offensive against illegal armed groups. As well as Ecuador, Colombia shares a border with Brazil, Venezuela, Peru and Panama.

☆ Latam M&A expected to recover in 2023, IPOs may take longer
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Tatiana Bautzer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

SAO PAULO, Dec 27 (Reuters) - After a sharp drop in Latin American deals in 2022, bankers expect a slow recovery next year, led by M&A. The volume of M&A deals in Latin America fell 35% this year, to $86 billion, according to Refinitiv data. Bankers predict M&A volumes will grow up to 20% in the region next year as Latin America becomes more relevant among emerging markets. Latin America has a great opportunity to increase its share among emerging markets, said Latam M&A co-head at Citigroup Nicolas Roca. Share offerings fell 61% in Latin America this year to $13.4 billion, according to Refinitiv data through December 26.

☆ Latin America's 'pink tide' may have hit its high-water mark
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Brad Haynes | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Alessandro Cinque/File PhotoDec 22 (Reuters) - Dramatic elections in Brazil, Chile and Colombia brought leftist governments into power across much of Latin America in 2022, capping the region's second "pink tide" in two decades. Chilean President Gabriel Boric, 36, took office in March as his country's most progressive leader in half a century and its youngest ever. Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, 77, who narrowly beat incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in October, is a holdover from the region's first pink tide, when a commodity boom helped him finish his 2003-2010 presidency with record approval. WHAT IT MEANS FOR 2023The region's new pink tide has a distinct green tint, as progressive movements have embraced the fight against climate change. Castillo, ousted about a year and a half after his election, may not be the only leftist leader to face difficult times.

☆ Oil tank in Colombia's Barranquilla explodes into flames, one dead
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] Black smoke rises during a fire in a hydrocarbon storage area of the Bravo Petroleum company in Barranquilla, Colombia December 21, 2022. Barranquilla City Hall Press Office/Handout via REUTERSBOGOTA, Dec 21 (Reuters) - A fuel tank exploded into flames in Colombia's Caribbean city of Barranquilla early on Wednesday, killing a firefighter who fell during the explosion, local authorities said. "Right now the fire is being controlled and allowed to burn out at the tank, which is on fire," Pumarejo told journalists, adding that the area around the tank was being evacuated. Operations to control the fire could take between three and four days as firefighters wait for the blaze to consume all the fuel, authorities said. Operations at Barranquilla's port were suspended until the fire is fully controlled, authorities added.

☆ Colombia to hike minimum monthly wage by 16%
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BOGOTA, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Colombia's minimum wage will increase by 16% in 2023, President Gustavo Petro said on Thursday, higher than the previous wage hike. The minimum wage will rise to 1.16 million pesos ($242.70) per month, an increase of 160,000 pesos ($33.40). The wage increase comes amid rampant inflation in Latin America's fourth-largest economy. The increase followed agreements between business associations and unions, Petro said, and will benefit some 3.4 million people who receive the minimum wage. "I hope that this increase to the minimum wage restores purchasing power that has been lost in recent months due to inflation, restores growth to the economy's average productivity, and also allows us to boost internal demand in Colombia," Petro said.

☆ Colombia killings of social leaders, rights defenders hit new high
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Luis Jaime Acosta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Nathalia Angarita/File PhotoBOGOTA, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Colombia will end the year with at least 199 killings of social leaders and human rights defenders, the highest level recorded, due to attacks by illegal armed groups in areas tied to the drug trade, the country's human rights ombudsman said on Wednesday. "There's a correlation between the increase in the killings of social leaders and human rights defenders with the increase in illicit crops in different territories and operations by illegal armed groups that dispute territorial control of drug trafficking routes," Camargo added. Some 66 leaders and rights defenders have been killed during Petro's administration so far. According to the Ombudsman's office, the provinces of Narino, Cauca, Putumayo, Antioquia and Arauca have been the most affected by violence against social leaders and human rights defenders this year. The numbers on community and human rights leader killings in Colombia vary widely depending on the source.

☆ Dozens are killed in Colombia after mudslide buries bus
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — A mudslide unleashed by torrential rain buried a bus and two other vehicles in central Colombia, killing at least 27 people and leaving others trapped as rescuers tried to reach them in the wreckage on Monday. The mudslide late Sunday divided a highway in two in the town of Pueblo Rico in the district of Risaralda. “Solidarity with the victims’ families, they’ll have the complete support of the national government,” Petro added as he confirmed the death toll. The public bus was carrying more than 20 people and was left buried in the wreckage of the highway. The town had been under a mudslide threat due to heavy rains caused by the La Niña weather phenomenon, according to Colombia’s national emergency management agency.

☆ Landslide buries bus in Colombia, killing at least 34
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BOGOTA, Dec 5 (Reuters) - At least 34 people died when a landslide buried a bus in northwestern Colombia on Sunday, the government disaster agency said on Monday. [1/3] Police help the rescue operations of a bus that was buried after a landslide due to heavy rains in Pueblo Rico, Colombia December 4, 2022. Colombia National Police/Handout via REUTERS 1 2 3Landslides are common in Colombia due to the mountainous terrain, frequent heavy rains and informal construction of houses. Events linked to heavy rains have killed more than 216 people and left 538,000 homeless so far in 2022, according to government statistics. The country's most recent large landslide killed over 320 people in the city of Mocoa in 2017.

☆ Colombia could be open to buying Venezuela's Monomeros -Finance Minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BOGOTA, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Colombia could be open to buying Venezuelan fertilizer maker Monomeros, Finance Minister Jose Antonio Ocampo said on Wednesday, at a time when higher fertilizer prices have contributed to inflationary pressure. Though Monomeros is based in the Colombian city of Barranquilla, it is owned by Pequiven, which is a unit of Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA. The government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro regained control of Monomeros' board of directors in mid-September, following a couple of years when it was controlled by opposition leader Juan Guaido. The recent changes to Monomeros' management occurred at a time when relations between Colombia and Venezuela - particularly in economic and military cooperation - have strengthened, following the election of Colombian President Gustavo Petro. Reporting by Carlos Vargas and Nelson Bocanegra Writing by Oliver Griffin Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Colombia wants Biden admin. to grant temporary legal status to its citizens in U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombia wants the Biden administration to grant temporary legal status to its citizens now living in the United States, noting its own efforts to address regional migration by hosting 2 million Venezuelans who fled their homes. In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, he asks President Joe Biden to grant Colombians already in the U.S. a form of temporary status called Deferred Enforced Departure. It is unclear how many Colombians are living in the United States without legal status. Murillo Urritia said there are nearly 2 million Colombians living in the United States, without elaborating on their immigration status. The Biden administration has extended temporary status for some countries and added Afghanistan, Ukraine, Myanmar, Cameroon and Venezuela, reversing a Trump-era trend to cut back on protections for those already in the United States.

“Let’s say no to Norma Torres because she has caused so much harm to El Salvador,” one of the many tweets read. The State Department considers this an attempt to influence the elections. You can say someone is interfering with the election, you can call it election interference. El Salvador President Nayib Bukele and his party Nuevas Ideas, or New Ideas, and its allies won the biggest congressional majority in the country’s history. Bukele and Torres met once in 2019 when she was with a congressional delegation visiting El Salvador.

Lula's team also worked to secure a jungle conservation alliance announced on Monday between the three largest rainforest nations - Brazil, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. That includes pushing for rich nations with high greenhouse gas emissions to pay poor nations for historic damage the climate. Colombia's Environment Minister Susana Muhamad said Lula's election would allow for renewed regional cooperation among Amazon rainforest nations to tackle deforestation, a major contributor to climate change. Lula environmental advisor Izabella Teixeira said she felt the mood about Brazil has shifted at COP27 from previous summits. "When I come to COP and meet people after the election of President Lula, there is hope," she said.

An EU official said Lula would also meet on Wednesday with EU climate policy chief Frans Timmermans. Last month, Lula defeated right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, who oversaw mounting destruction of the Amazon rainforest and refused to host the 2019 climate summit originally planned for Brazil. His team also worked to secure a jungle conservation alliance announced on Monday between the three largest rainforest nations - Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia. They said other countries know Brazil will soon have a Lula government that has promised to take the issue more seriously than Bolsonaro, a climate change sceptic. Colombia's Environment Minister Susana Muhamad said Lula's election would allow renewed regional cooperation among Amazon rainforest nations to tackle deforestation, a major contributor to climate change.

☆ Colombia economy grew 7% in Q3, beating expectations
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Carlos Vargas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

In a Reuters poll last week analysts said they expected growth in Latin America's fourth-largest economy to slow amid moderating domestic consumption, rampant inflation and rising interest rates. read moreThe economy grew 1.6% in the third quarter versus the second quarter, DANE said. The finance sector registered 9.2% growth in the third quarter compared to the same period a year earlier, while retail expanded by 8.1%. In September the economy grew by 4.2%. read moreThe technical team of the country's central bank forecasts GDP growth for this year at 7.9% and 0.5% for 2023.

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