LABOUR-COLOMBIA: Striking Oil Workers Defy President – and Danger

In Colombia, considered the most dangerous country in the world for labour activists, oil workers are defying right-wing President Alvaro Uribe in a strike against measures that the union sees as steps towards the eventual privatisation of the state-run oil company.

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: The Convenient Disappearance of a Paramilitary Leader

''The security forces must have some degree of responsibility'' in the vanishing of Carlos Castaño, the head of Colombia's paramilitary umbrella group, a human rights lawyer told IPS.

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: The Convenient Disappearance of a Paramilitary Leader

''The security forces must have some degree of responsibility'' in the vanishing of the head of Colombia's paramilitary umbrella group, Carlos Castaño, a human rights lawyer told IPS.

PRESS FREEDOM-COLOMBIA: Bad Place for ‘Best Profession’

How many Colombian journalists live in exile? How many have been forced to leave their hometowns but continue to live in the country, though in far-flung regions? How many of those who fled were able to continue working at what Colombian Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez says is "the best profession in the world"?

COLOMBIA: Young People Killed by ‘Mistake’, or Taken from Their Home?

The official version of ''military errors'' to explain the murder of five young rural people in central Colombia conflicts with reports by the victims' families and a neighbour, which were confirmed by two sources who spoke to IPS.
The victims included three adolescents and a baby.

COLOMBIA: Young People Killed by ‘Mistake’, or Taken from Their Home?

The official version of ''military errors'' to explain the murder of five young rural people, including three adolescents and a baby, in central Colombia conflicts with reports by the victims' families and a neighbour, which were confirmed by two sources who spoke to IPS.

/ARTS WEEKLY/COLOMBIA: Flamenco-Symphonic Premiere a Flop

The international premiere of a ''symphonic flamenco'' concert on the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, billed as the feature attraction of the ninth Ibero-American Theatre Festival in the Colombian capital, ended up a flop due to technical problems and discrepancies between the Spanish and Colombian composers and musicians.

COLOMBIA: Indians and Blacks Displaced by War in Remote Northwest

Heavy fighting between leftist guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary groups in the remote jungle region of northwestern Colombia led to the forced displacement of 1,275 Emberá indigenous people this week.

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: Women Activists Brave the Dangers

Women activists in Colombia's ''oil capital'', Barrancabermeja, provide a lesson in bravery, defying pressure and threats from the right-wing paramilitaries to continue their social activism.

COLOMBIA: The Truth Behind Ingrid Betancourt ‘Rescue Mission’

An exclusive journalistic investigation by IPS sought to get at the truth behind a supposed attempt by France to rescue former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who was kidnapped by the FARC guerrillas two years ago as of next Monday.

COLOMBIA: The Truth Behind Ingrid Betancourt ‘Rescue Mission’

An exclusive journalistic investigation by IPS sought to get at the truth behind a supposed attempt by France to rescue former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who was kidnapped by the FARC guerrillas two years ago as of next Monday.

RIGHTS: Colombian State, UP Survivors Seek ‘Friendly Settlement’

''What will be waiting for us when we go out this door? We have said a lot, and who can guarantee that there will be no reprisals?'' asked a journalist who belongs to the leftist Patriotic Union (UP) political movement upon leaving a public hearing in Colombia.

RIGHTS: Colombian State, UP Survivors Seek ‘Friendly Settlement’

''What will be waiting for us when we go out this door? We have said a lot, and who can guarantee that there will be no reprisals?'' asked a journalist who belongs to the leftist Patriotic Union (UP) political movement upon leaving a public hearing in Colombia.

COLOMBIA: Film Documents ‘Red Dance’ of Annihilation

The Colombian documentary film "El baile rojo" (The Red Dance), competing this week at an international film festival, marks an effort to restore collective memory of an experiment in reconciliation that was erased by blood and fire from the country's political map.

COLOMBIA-VENEZUELA: Paramilitary Presence Heats Up Border

Killings and other incidents of violence in recent days along the Venezuelan-Colombian border indicate that the right-wing Colombian paramilitaries are spreading through the areas previously controlled by leftist guerrillas, say sources in Bogotá and Caracas.

COLOMBIA: Truth Commission Report Paves Way for Hostage Release

Five foreign tourists kidnapped by Colombia's ELN guerrillas were released Monday. But a truth commission report highlighted the fact that some 200,000 indigenous people and peasants remain captives of the civil war in the remote Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains.

COLOMBIA: Truth Commission Report Paves Way for Hostage Release

Five foreign tourists kidnapped by Colombia's ELN guerrillas were released Monday. But a truth commission report highlighted the fact that some 200,000 indigenous people and peasants remain captives of the civil war in the remote Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains.

COLOMBIA: Time Is Running Out for Hostage-Prisoner Swap

The families of politicians, police and soldiers held hostage by Colombia's main rebel group say they cannot wait any longer for a government decision to their call for a humanitarian accord on a prisoner-for-hostage swap with the guerrillas.

COLOMBIA: Flunking Human Rights

The Colombian government has failed the human rights exam, and its allies, the right-wing paramilitary groups, have flunked out of international humanitarian law, as have the leftist guerrillas.

DRUGS-COLOMBIA: The Other Face of the Narco-Traffickers

Aleida Cuarán, 36, was sentenced to eight years in a Colombian prison on Jan. 24, 2001. She remembers the exact date, and with a frank gaze states matter-of-factly that she is serving time ''for drug trafficking.''

DRUGS-COLOMBIA: The Other Face of the Narco-Traffickers

Aleida Cuarán, 36, was sentenced to eight years in a Colombian prison on Jan. 24, 2001. She remembers the exact date, and with a frank gaze states matter-of-factly that she is serving time ''for drug trafficking.''