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☆ Biden to discuss Venezuela sanctions with Colombia's Petro in White House talks -official
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Matt Spetalnick | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Colombia's President Gustavo Petro speaks on the day of a presentation of the labor reform that his government wants to carry out, in Bogota, Colombia March 16, 2023. REUTERS/Luisa GonzalezWASHINGTON, April 19 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will tell Colombian President Gustavo Petro in White House talks on Thursday that he is willing to further ease sanctions on Venezuela only in return for concrete steps toward free elections there, a senior administration official told Reuters. The White House talks are aimed at renewing historically strong ties between Washington and Bogota and charting a new relationship with Colombia’s first leftist president. Since taking office, Biden has eased some U.S. sanctions on OPEC-member Venezuela to encourage dialogue. “Unilateral lifting of sanctions," the official said on condition of anonymity, "will line the pockets of people who have already stolen billions of dollars from Venezuela ...

☆ FARC dissident group says to start peace talks with Colombian government in May
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Julia Symmes Cobb | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BOGOTA, April 16 (Reuters) - Dissident FARC rebels who rejected a landmark peace agreement in 2016 said on Sunday they are ready to set up a dialogue with the government on May 16 to begin peace talks to bring their group, the Estado Mayor Central (EMC), out of the armed conflict. The group, made up of 3,530 people - 2,180 combatants and 1,350 auxiliaries - has maintained a bilateral ceasefire with the Colombian government since the beginning of the year. The other dissident FARC faction is the Segunda Marquetalia, which in August 2019 returned to the armed struggle, claiming that the state failed to comply with the peace agreement. Petro's government reestablished peace talks with the rebels of the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the two parties seek to advance towards a bilateral ceasefire agreement in a third round of talks to begin soon in Cuba. Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb, Additional reporting by Nelson Bocanegra Editing by Drazen Jorgic and Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Biden to host Colombian President Petro on April 20
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, April 14 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will host a bilateral meeting with Colombian President Gustavo Petro, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement on Friday. "I am grateful to President Biden for his invitation," Petro said on Twitter. The meeting will take place in Washington on April 20. Petro, who took office last year, has derided the U.S.-led war on drugs as a failure and called for a new international approach. Colombia's attorney general, who is critical of Petro's policies, has said the country risks losing U.S. support because of rising coca output and a the bill to allow criminal gangs to surrender in exchange for lesser sentences.

☆ 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

☆ Colombia's peso to stay weak on c.bank pause signs, mismatch vs oil price
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Gabriel Burin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BUENOS AIRES, April 5 (Reuters) - Colombia's peso will likely stay weak on signs the central bank is turning to a wait-and-see approach on interest rates, combined with downside pressures from the currency's mismatch against oil prices, a Reuters poll showed. Officials at BanRep, as the central bank is known, last week raised the benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 13.0%, a more than 20-year high. "If March inflation behaves as expected, they suggested this could be the last hike," J.P. Morgan analysts wrote in a report. We think this supports our underweight (view) for the peso, which has also decoupled from lower oil prices these past few weeks and offers good entry levels for shorts." The currency has fared poorly for months even while Colombia's central bank conducted an aggressive tightening cycle that added 1,125 basis points in rate increments since a pandemic-time low of 1.75%.

☆ Colombia raises alert level for deadly volcano on increased seismic activity
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] An aerial view of Nevado Del Ruiz volcano located on the border of Caldas and Tolima April 10, 2013. REUTERS/John Vizcaino/BOGOTA, March 31 (Reuters) - Colombian authorities have raised the alert level for the deadly Nevado del Ruiz volcano to orange, suggesting a greater probability of an eruption in the coming days or weeks, due to an increase in seismic activity. The Nevado del Ruiz is a stratovolcano, or composite volcano, which straddles the border between Colombia's Tolima and Caldas provinces. "We have an orange alert due to the change in seismology at the Ruiz volcano. Mayors must prepare the protocols for this state of alert," President Gustavo Petro said in a Twitter message on Friday.

Venezuelan oil resumed flowing to the U.S. in January under a Treasury Department license granted to Chevron that allowed it to expand output there and export the oil. Refiners including Valero and Phillips 66 (PSX.N) have bought cargoes from Chevron, according to U.S. Customs and shipping data. Chevron's license - and approvals granted to European firms Eni (ENI.MI) and Repsol (REP.MC) - allow only for oil or debt swaps. Chevron's resumption of Venezuelan crude imports has not led to an increase in the country's overall exports this year, according to PDVSA schedules and Refinitiv Eikon data. 2 U.S. oil company exported some 86,000 barrels per day of Venezuelan oil in February.

☆ Inflation, migration in focus at regional Ibero-American summit
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Paul Mathiasen And Jesus Frias | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Honduras President Xiomara Castro attends at the XXVIII Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, March 25, 2023. Dominican Republic Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Handout via REUTERSSANTO DOMINGO, March 25 (Reuters) - Leaders attending the Ibero-American Summit meeting in the Dominican Republic on Saturday highlighted rising inflation and migration as risks to the stability of the region. "Today migration management constitutes one of the great regional challenges," said Chilean President Gabriel Boric. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, meanwhile, canceled his attendance at the Ibero-American summit after receiving a positive COVID-19 test result, though he has since tested negative twice, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said. Reporting by Paul Mathiasen and Jesus Frias in Santo Domingo and Marco Aquino in Lima Writing by Cassandra Garrison Editing by Matthew Lewis and Deepa BabingtonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Colombian president suspends ceasefire with criminal group
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BOGOTA, March 19 (Reuters) - Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Sunday said he had suspended a ceasefire with the Clan del Golfo, the country's largest criminal organization, because it had attacked police. "I have ordered the armed forces to reactivate all military operations against the Clan del Golfo," Petro said in a tweet. Minutes later, Petro tweeted: "The rifle attack on the police force by the Clan del Golfo breaks the ceasefire.... Days earlier, in a radio interview on March 13, Petro accused the group of destroying a municipal aqueduct in Antioquia province amid roadblocks connected to protests by informal gold miners. Petro said the group had "broken the ceasefire" and there was no possibility of negotiations with the group if they continue attacks.

☆ Death toll from Colombia coal mine explosion climbs to 21
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BOGOTA, March 16 (Reuters) - Ten miners reported missing after an explosion caused by accumulated gas in coal mines in central Colombia have been found dead, raising the death toll to 21, authorities said on Thursday. The explosion in several adjoining coal mines took place late on Tuesday in a rural area of Sutatausa, about 75 km (46 miles) north of Bogota. Serious accidents are common at open pit and subterranean coal and gold mines in Colombia, mostly at illegal or informal operations and those without proper safety measures. There were 117 accidents at mines in Colombia last year, according to the agency, killing 146 people. The deadliest recent accident was in June 2010, when 73 people were killed in a mine explosion the northwest.

☆ 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 prosecutor suspends warrant for FARC dissidents in step toward talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Estado Mayor Central armed group was founded by former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels who did not join that group's demobilization and conversion to a legal political party. The suspension will allow discussions to take place between the dissidents and government officials, Petro said on Twitter - a first step to beginning formal talks. The government is already in peace talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels and the two sides have said they are progressing toward a bilateral ceasefire deal. The country's top peace official told Reuters last month the government expects talks with the Estado Mayor and Segunda Marquetalia, another FARC dissident group, within weeks. The attorney general said in January he would not drop extradition warrants for drug-trafficking bosses, with whom Petro wants to agree surrender deals.

☆ Colombia, ELN rebels have made first steps toward ceasefire
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Henry RomeroBOGOTA, March 10 (Reuters) - Colombia's government and the left-wing ELN guerrilla group have taken the first steps toward a bilateral, temporary ceasefire, the heads of their delegations at peace talks said on Friday, as they closed their second cycle of negotiations in Mexico City. The ELN is Colombia's oldest remaining rebel group, and the talks are the cornerstone of efforts by leftist President Gustavo Petro - himself once a member of the now-demobilized M-19 insurgents - to bring "total peace" to Colombia. "We took the first steps to firm up a bilateral, national and temporary ceasefire which will create better conditions for Colombians' mobilization and participation in the peace process," said the ELN's Pablo Beltran. On New Year's Eve, Petro announced a ceasefire, but days later the ELN said it had not agreed to the measure. The ELN, founded in 1964 by radical Catholic priests, has some 2,500 combatants and is accused of financing itself through drug trafficking, illegal mining and kidnapping.

☆ Exclusive: Colombia's Amazon reserves suffer staffing delays, risking environmental damage
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Oliver Griffin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"We (permanent staff) are few," an official at one Amazon park, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. As of Friday morning, 22 contracts for personnel for working on the national parks agency's Amazon reserves had been published via Colombia's national contracting agency. Last year, at least 107 contractors had deals for work on Amazon reserves by January, data from the agency seen by Reuters showed. The government of leftist President Gustavo Petro, who took office seven months ago and has pledged to lower deforestation, plans to initially replace annual contracts for national parks workers with four-year. Five would-be park workers told Reuters the delays meant they had been forced to find other jobs.

☆ 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.

☆ Hostages taken by anti-oil firm protesters in Colombia are freed
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BOGOTA, March 3 (Reuters) - A group of 88 police officers and employees of oil firm Emerald Energy taken hostage in Colombia amid a deadly protest against the company have been freed, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Friday. Rural and indigenous protesters also took 79 police officers and nine Emerald employees hostage, blocked access to an oil field, and set a fire to demand the company fix roads in the area, authorities said. Petro confirmed the hostages had been freed Friday, calling on investigators to find those responsible for the deaths. Emerald Energy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Rosalba O'BrienOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Colombia prosecutors to investigate President Petro's son
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BOGOTA, March 3 (Reuters) - Colombia's attorney general's office said on Friday it will begin an investigation into accusations that President Gustavo Petro's oldest son took money from drug traffickers in exchange for including them in his father's peace efforts. The president had called for the attorney general's office to investigate and Nicolas Petro welcomed an investigation on his Twitter account late on Thursday. The woman, Nicolas Petro's ex-partner, had told local media that two people accused of involvement with drug trafficking had given Nicolas money for his father's campaign, among other alleged acts of corruption. An investigation into the accusations against Petro's brother began in January, prosecutors added. That effort is one prong of Petro's pledge to bring 'total peace' to Colombia, whose six-decade internal armed conflict has killed at least 450,000 people.

☆ 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, Bolivia to ask UN to remove coca leaf from narcotics list
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Claudia MoralesBOGOTA, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Colombia and Bolivia will jointly ask the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs to remove coca leaves from its list of prohibited substances and accept the plant's traditional uses, Colombia's government said on Wednesday. "Bolivia and Colombia consider it is the moment to once again put this issue on the table," she said. "To remove the coca leaf - the leaf, not cocaine - from the prohibited substances list." Coca leaves are widely used in different countries in Latin America, especially by indigenous groups, to treat stomach aches and altitude sickness, among other ceremonial uses. Bolivian President Luis Arce said in January his government would push for coca leaves to be removed from the list so they can be commercialized, after his predecessor Evo Morales decriminalized coca nationally.

☆ Colombia and Venezuela sign deal to revive trade
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro react during a meeting for signing the Partial Scope Agreement Number 28 that will resume bilateral trade between Colombia and Venezuela at the Atanasio Girardot International Bridge on the border between Colombia and Venezuela, in San Antonio del Tachira, Venezuela, February 16, 2023. Colombian Presidency/Handout via REUTERSBOGOTA/CARACAS, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Colombia and Venezuela on Thursday signed an agreement to revive trade between the two countries during a ceremony on a border bridge at which Colombia's President Gustavo Petro and Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro both signed. The deal "updates everything having to do with tariffs, with goods traded, (and) lays the foundations for a new dynamic, for the expansion of trade between Colombia and Venezuela," Maduro said at the event broadcast on Venezuelan state television. "We have to fill these bridges with trade," Petro said, warning that "there is lots still to do because it is not a question of whether these bridges are filled with trade but rather than they are filled with people." Caracas broke off relations with Bogota in 2019 after Venezuelan opposition activists tried to send aid trucks from Colombia.

☆ Colombians march to support President Petro's social and economic reforms
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Luis Jaime Acosta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] A man holds a flag as supporters of Colombian President Gustavo Petro demonstrate in favor of the reform projects planned for his government, in Bogota, Colombia, February 14, 2023. REUTERS/Nathalia AngaritaBOGOTA, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Colombians took to the streets across the country's major cities on Tuesday to support economic and social reforms put forward by President Gustavo Petro as part of efforts to reduce poverty, exclusion and inequality in the South American country. Supporters marched across the country to signal to Congress and the Constitutional Court that the proposed reforms have widespread backing. "What President Petro is doing seems good to me, we need a change, for the poor to have access to health, education, decent housing," street vendor Maria Isabel Cubillos, 43, told Reuters in capital Bogota. Colombia's opposition called for marches and rallies in cities across Colombia on Wednesday to reject Petro's reforms, arguing they threaten the country's economic stability and risk plunging it into more poverty.

☆ Colombia unveils four-year development plan worth nearly $250 bln
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BOGOTA, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Colombia's government on Monday presented a $247.1 billion four-year development plan to the country's lawmakers, laying out details of its projected social and economic investments. Development plans are generally financed with funds from annual budgets and royalties from oil and mining projects, as well as resources from municipalities and provinces across the country. Petro, Colombia's first leftist leader, has pledged to seek peace or surrender deals with armed groups, reduce poverty, improve access to education and health and protect the environment. Petro says he wants to end Colombia's internal armed conflict, which has run for almost six decades, leaving hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced. Petro has also offered criminal gangs with ties to drug trafficking the chance to surrender in return for more lenient sentences.

☆ Violence in Colombia falls in first month of ceasefire
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BOGOTA, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Colombia's ceasefire with four armed groups has led to significant reductions in violence during its first month, Interior Minister Alfonso Prada said on Monday, with fewer murders and attacks on armed forces. Homicides in provinces heavily affected by conflict and where one or more of the groups participating in the ceasefire are active fell by up to 68%, he said, without giving absolute figures. The Pacific province of Choco saw the 68% reduction, followed closely by Arauca, on the Venezuelan border, which saw murders fall by 66%. In Cordoba homicides were down 52%, while in Magdalena they fell 37%, Prada said. Prada did not give figures for members of illegal armed groups killed this month, but the country's navy said earlier on Monday at least nine rebels from the ELN died in fighting last weekend close to Buenaventura.

☆ Nestle unveils $100 million Colombia investment to grow capacity
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BOGOTA, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Global food giant Nestle (NESN.S) is set to invest $100 million over the next three years in its Colombian operations, President Gustavo Petro said on Friday, part of his push to boost industrialization. The Colombian leader outlined the announcement in a post on Twitter late Friday. "Industrializing Colombia is essential if we want to get out of poverty," Petro wrote on Twitter. Nestle did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta and Carolina Pulice; Editing by David Alire Garcia and Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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