ELECTIONS-COLOMBIA: Campaign Marked by Threats

In the view of Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos, Amnesty International timed the release of its annual report on human rights in 150 countries to influence Colombia's presidential elections next Sunday.

ELECTIONS-COLOMBIA: Campaign Marked by Threats

In the view of Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos, Amnesty International timed the release of its annual report on human rights in 150 countries to influence Colombia's presidential elections next Sunday.

COLOMBIA: Casualties in Battle Against Free Trade Pact with US

Indigenous and campesino protests against the free trade deal that Colombia is negotiating with the United States drew a harsh military response from the government of rightwing President Álvaro Uribe, leaving an as yet unknown number of people dead, injured or missing.

COLOMBIA: Voters Expected to Back Uribe’s ‘Firm Hand’, Economic Achievements

The May 28 presidential elections in Colombia are looking more and more like a referendum on the administration of President Álvaro Uribe, who is slated to win a second term. Voters will also demonstrate on election day whether they want to see a continuation of his hard-line stance towards the leftist rebels, or are more inclined towards efforts to bring about peace talks.

COLOMBIA: Magistrates Excommunicated for Partially Lifting Abortion Ban

Twenty-seven years after Congresswoman Consuelo Lleras unsuccessfully submitted a bill to legalise abortion in Colombia, the country’s Constitutional Court has recognised the right to terminate a pregnancy in case of rape, a threat to the woman’s life or health, or if the foetus has a deformity that would prevent survival outside the womb.

COLOMBIA: Latest News on the FARC

In Colombia, which has been steeped in civil war for decades, every reporter has refrained from writing up hundreds of stories to avoid endangering people or communities merely by mentioning or revealing specific places like villages or roads, or repeating conversations.

COLOMBIA: New Jobs for Paramilitaries

A new species can be found in the Magdalena Medio region in central Colombia: men who dress in black from head to toe, despite the tropical heat. Because they carry cell-phones, the local campesinos have nicknamed them "telefonos". And they can be lethal.

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: Indigenous People Flee Homes After FARC Killings

Wounaan Indians have been fleeing the jungles of the northwestern Colombian province of Chocó en masse since Sunday, after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) killed two indigenous teachers.

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: Coca-Cola, Nestle and Chiquita Brands on ‘Trial’

The first public hearing held by the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal (PPT) in its Colombia session accused U.S. and Swiss multinational corporations of benefiting from the civil war in this South American nation in order to boost profit margins.

COLOMBIA: Displaced Families Return, to Create ‘Peace Community’

With a mixture of fear, joy and sorrow and a deep desire to once again work the land, 17 rural families displaced by paramilitary violence in civil war-torn Colombia have returned to the lion's den to create a new "peace community".

COLOMBIA: Elections Tilt Legislature Further to the Right

After a landslide victory in Sunday's elections, allies of rightwing President Álvaro Uribe will hold 72 seats in the Senate, against the opposition's 28. The social democratic Liberal Party suffered a resounding defeat, meanwhile, and turnout stood at only around 40 percent.

ELECTIONS-COLOMBIA: Paramilitaries Aggressively Campaign for Votes

A group of sons and daughters of victims of the "dirty war" in Colombia urged voters not to vote in Sunday's legislative elections for candidates on lists that include alleged members of paramilitary militias, their accomplices or their front men.

ELECTIONS-COLOMBIA: Paramilitaries Aggressively Campaign for Votes

A group of sons and daughters of victims of the "dirty war" in Colombia urged voters not to vote in Sunday's legislative elections for candidates on lists that include alleged members of paramilitary militias, their accomplices or their front men.

COLOMBIA: FARC Makes Its Presence Felt Ahead of Elections

While the National Liberation Army (ELN) declared a truce for the Mar. 12 legislative elections in Colombia, the much larger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has brought activity in at least 10 of the country's provinces to a total or partial halt, while carrying out bloody attacks on civilians.

COLOMBIA: France Calls for Hostage Swap

At 5:08 AM Thursday, Colombian journalist Herbin Hoyos announced on the Caracol Radio station that he had French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy on the line.

COLOMBIA-ECUADOR: Panic Along the Border

"The bullets and shell casings were falling like hail" in the Ecuadorian village of Barranca Bermeja near the Colombian border during a recent incursion by the Colombian air force, said terrified local residents.

COLOMBIA-ECUADOR: Panic Along the Border

"The bullets and shell casings were falling like hail" in the Ecuadorian village of Barranca Bermeja near the Colombian border during a recent incursion by the Colombian air force, said terrified local residents.

COLOMBIA: Civilians Caught in Crossfire of Anti-Drug Operation

An unprecedented military campaign to eradicate coca crops in a central Colombian national park has placed 2,500 families in the line of fire between counterinsurgency forces and leftist guerrillas.

COLOMBIA: Conflict to Heat Up Ahead of Elections, Say Analysts

Analysts expect the four-decade armed conflict between the Colombian state security forces and insurgent groups to intensify over the next five months in the run-up to the May 28 elections, in which rightwing President Álvaro Uribe stands a good chance of winning a second four-year term.

COLOMBIA: Ingrid Betancourt’s Release Could Take Years

"Under Uribe there will be no humanitarian exchange" of prisoners for hostages, according to a statement released Monday by the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

ENVIRONMENT: New Forestry Law Sets Colombia Back Half a Century

A forestry bill about to be signed into law by the Colombian government will set the country back half a century in terms of conservation of forests, according to environmentalists.