COLOMBIA: No Release on Bail for Former Minister Implicated in Assassination

Judicial authorities in Colombia decided Wednesday not to release on bail former justice minister Alberto Santofimio, who is accused of "inciting" the 1989 murder of his fellow Liberal Party member, Luis Carlos Galán, the front-runner for the 1990 presidential elections.

COLOMBIA: Neutrality Not an Option for Indigenous Community

"I have cried these last few days more than I had cried in my entire life," Braulio Mendoza told IPS, sitting amidst the rubble of what was once his home.

COLOMBIA: Caught in the Crossfire, Nasa Indians Take Shelter in Health Post

Hundreds of Nasa Indians in this rural area of southwestern Colombia have taken shelter in their local health post, perched on a hilltop with a breathtaking view of the Andes mountains, as the gunfire between leftist guerrillas and the army rages below.

COLOMBIA: Caught in the Crossfire, Nasa Indians Take Shelter in Health Post

Hundreds of Nasa Indians in this rural area of southwestern Colombia have taken shelter in their local health post, perched on a hilltop with a breathtaking view of the Andes mountains, as the gunfire between leftist guerrillas and the army rages below.

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: Tension Over Massacre Mounts

The tension between the Colombian government and the small San José de Apartadó Peace Community, in that country's northwestern banana-producing region, continues to mount.

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: Rural Activists Blame Killings on Army

The brutal killings of eight campesinos, including two women and three children, in the northwestern Colombian province of Antioquia was blamed on the army by local residents and human rights groups, although authorities deny that the armed forces were involved.

COLOMBIA: Questions of ‘Truth, Justice and Reparations’ Surround Paramilitary Demobilisation

Talking about the need for "truth, justice and reparations" is important, but not sufficient, says Sergio Caramagna, the head of the Organisation of American States (OAS) mission that is overseeing the demobilisation of right-wing paramilitary militias in civil war- torn Colombia.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Colombia Gearing Up to Do Its Bit

Colombia is set to begin systematically measuring the impact of climate change on its remarkably diverse territory, which ranges from Caribbean and Pacific coastal regions to snow-capped Andes mountains and tropical Amazon rainforest, in compliance with the Kyoto Protocol.

COLOMBIA: Gov’t Continues to Block Humanitarian Hostages-for-Prisoners Swap

The mother of former Colombian presidential candidate and senator Ingrid Betancourt, Yolanda Pulecio, says President Alvaro Uribe is actively boycotting the possibility of reaching an agreement to release her daughter, who was kidnapped by the FARC insurgents three years ago Wednesday.

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: The Displaced Demand Reparations, and the Truth

A visitor to the picturesque Caribbean resort town of Cartagena does not have to go far to see one of the effects of Colombia's civil war - tens of thousands of people displaced by the violence, living in the vast slums that ring the city.

COLOMBIA: Donors Set Conditions for Support for Paramilitary Disarmament

International donors meeting in this northern Colombian coastal resort made greater support for the current paramilitary demobilisation process contingent on the passage of legislation that would ensure "truth, justice and reparations" for the victims of human rights abuses.

COLOMBIA: Putting a Price on Human Rights

As international donors are preparing to meet in Colombia this week, activists and other critics of right-wing President Alvaro Uribe have expressed fears that demands for respect for human rights will be watered down, and support will be offered for a heavily questioned paramilitary demobilisation process.

COLOMBIA: Families of Hostages Still Pressing for a Humanitarian Swap

For the families of politicians and soldiers held hostage by Colombia's insurgents with a view to swapping them for imprisoned guerrillas - something that has been done under previous governments - this was not just another week.

COLOMBIA: NGOs Question OAS Role in Paramilitary Demobilisation

Non-governmental organisations in Colombia want the OAS to re-assess the role it is playing in its monitoring of the disbanding of right-wing paramilitary militias, which has been agreed in talks with the government of Alvaro Uribe.

COLOMBIA: Attempts to Infuse Paramilitary Disarmament with ‘Truth and Justice’

Colombian legislators across the political spectrum are pushing for approval of a draft law to promote "truth, justice and reparations" in the process of demobilisation of the right-wing paramilitary militias.

ENVIRONMENT: Andean Nations Clash with U.S. on Patenting Life Forms

Access to genetic resources in South America's Andean region, which holds a quarter of the planet's biodiversity, is a point of discord in the free trade agreement that the United States has been negotiating with Colombia, Ecuador and Peru since May.

Andean Nations Clash with Washington on Patents

Free trade treaty negotiators from Colombia, Ecuador and Peru reject the U.S. proposal for patenting plant and animal species. The matter will be taken up during the sixth round of talks, slated to take place Nov. 29-Dec. 4 in the southwestern U.S. city of Tucson.

U.S. ELECTION: In Colombia Bush’s Triumph Gladdens Uribe, but Scares Others

Many Colombians have expressed deep concern over U.S. President George W. Bush's re-election, while others share the enthusiasm of right-wing Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, Washington's closest ally in Latin America.

COLOMBIA: Helping Reporters Identify and Deal with Post-Traumatic Stress

A journalist whose emotions have been blunted by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) cannot reflect the pain suffered by others and can cause great harm through their work, says Colombian psychologist Marta Chinchilla.

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: Church Group that Documents Abuses Told ‘Watch What You Write’

The Intercongregational Justice and Peace Commission in Colombia was recently told "watch what you write," in a message threatening that "something terrible" could happen.

LITERATURE: Garcia Marquez Gives Another Twist to Love

"Memories of My Melancholy Whores", a new novel by Colombian Nobel Literature Prize-winner Gabriel García Márquez that is scheduled for release in Spanish on Oct. 20, is an untold page in the life of Florentino Ariza, the central character in "Love in the Time of Cholera", which was published in 1985.