COLOMBIA: Violent Society, Violent Schools

In a survey carried out in 807 public and private primary and secondary schools across the social spectrum in the Colombian capital, 56 percent of students said they had been robbed within the school premises.

MEDIA-COLOMBIA: Unraveling the “New” FARC Announcement

Colombian and international media outlets reported Thursday and Friday that the FARC guerrillas had "ruled out" the release of Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt in an article issued after a French emergency medical mission to save the gravely ill hostage got underway. The problem is that the FARC statement is actually more than two weeks old.

COLOMBIA: On the Verge of Death?

It is still uncertain whether a European humanitarian mission sent to Colombia by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to provide emergency medical aid to French-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt will be received by the FARC guerrillas.

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: Paramilitarism Alive and Well

"If their slogan was land, dignity and peace, this time it will be terror, murder and hell," said a threat sent to human rights defenders and trade unionists who took part in a Mar. 6 march in homage to the victims of Colombia’s far-right paramilitary groups.

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: 15 Soldiers to Be Arrested for Massacre

Authorities in Colombia have ordered the arrest of three army officers and 12 non-commissioned officers accused of killing eight adults and three children in the banana-growing region of Urabá on the border with Panama.

RIGHTS-PERU: Terrorist Supporters or Victims of Witch Hunt?

Peru’s counter-terrorism police dismantled the local chapter of the Continental Bolivarian Committee (CCB-CP) and arrested its members on charges of supporting terrorism and having ties to Colombia’s guerrillas.

MEXICO: Rights Groups Protest Killing of Students in FARC Camp

Human rights groups in Mexico and Ecuador plan to take legal action against the Colombian government for what they call the "unjustified massacre" of four Mexican students in this month’s attack on a FARC guerrilla camp in Ecuador.

ECUADOR: Manta Air Base Tied to Colombian Raid on FARC Camp

Military and diplomatic sources see a link between the Manta air base, operated by the United States in Ecuadorean territory, and this month’s bombing raid by Colombia on a FARC guerrilla camp in Ecuador.

CHILE: Bachelet to Help Seek Humanitarian Solution for Colombia’s Hostage Crisis

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet promised to work "quickly" and "efficiently" to obtain the release of the hostages held by the FARC, according to Juan Carlos Lecompte, the husband of former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who was taken hostage by the Colombian guerrilla group in 2002.

COLOMBIA-ECUADOR: OAS Rejects Military Incursion

After 14 hours of deliberation, the foreign ministers of the members of the Organisation of American States (OAS) announced Tuesday that they "reject" Colombia’s recent cross-border incursion into Ecuador, which was carried out "without the knowledge or prior consent of the government" of that country.

COLOMBIA: The Food Basket Is Running Out

Boyacá, known as the "food basket of Colombia", is currently the country’s second poorest province, and small farmers there say it is more expensive to raise crops than to buy pre-packaged food.

Q&A: ‘I Raise My Voice in Constant Denunciation, Demanding Justice’

"As for the terrorist FARC organisation, I describe it in the terms I have just used," said Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzón, replying to a journalist’s question during his visit to Costa Rica.

MEXICO: Questions Raised by Deaths of Students at Rebel Camp

"There is solidarity with the FARC, nothing else. Don’t spread nonsense, our ‘compañeros’ are not guerrillas," said a spokesman for a student group at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), referring to several Mexicans who were wounded or killed in the bombing of a Colombian rebel camp in Ecuador.

COLOMBIA: Crisis Ends With Hugs, Handshakes and Applause

Hugs and handshakes between the presidents of Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela put an end to a week-long political and diplomatic crisis that threatened to escalate into a regional conflict.

COLOMBIA: French Negotiators Were to Meet Reyes the Day He Was Killed

Three personal envoys of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who were in Ecuador since October 2007, were phoned Saturday Mar. 1 by Colombian Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo, who warned them not to go to a meeting with guerrilla leader Raúl Reyes because they would be in danger.

COLOMBIA-VENEZUELA: Why Did Chavez Mobilise Troops?

When Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez ordered the movement of troops to the Colombian border, newspaper offices in Caracas immediately began to be flooded by phone calls from people who talked about a repeat of the "Malvinas syndrome". But there may be many reasons for the leftwing president’s decision, which could be more political than military.

NICARAGUA: Rupture of Ties with Colombia Comes as Little Surprise

Nicaragua’s announcement Thursday that it was breaking off diplomatic ties with Colombia over the recent bombing raid carried out on a rebel camp in Ecuadorian territory met with concern but not surprise in the Colombian capital.

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: Thousands Come Out for Anti-Paramilitary March

"I will march against the members of the security forces who have betrayed the honour of the military and the police, and have betrayed their fatherland, by selling themselves out to paramilitaries and drug traffickers to serve their interests," said Colombian Senator Juan Manuel Galán in a speech given at the spot where his father was assassinated in 1989.

COLOMBIA-ECUADOR: OAS Helps Ease Tension in Diplomatic Crisis

Political and business circles in Colombia breathed a sigh of relief Wednesday after the Organisation of American States (OAS) took a step towards defusing the serious diplomatic crisis between that country and Ecuador.

POLITICS-US: U.S. Diplomacy Sidelined by Loyalty to Uribe

Washington's strong backing for President Alvaro Uribe has all but removed it from playing any significant diplomatic role in defusing the crisis sparked by Saturday's attack by Colombia on anti-government guerrillas on Ecuador's territory, according to analysts here.

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: Displaced Pay Homage to Victims of Paramilitaries

"It was an homage to the indigenous people, Afro-Colombians, peasant farmers and everyone else who has been killed in this absurd war," indigenous activist Manuel Bautista told IPS at the start of a three-day march that will end in the Colombian capital Thursday.