LATIN AMERICA: “Crisis Will Strengthen Forces Calling for Negotiations”

The political analyst who coined the phrase "21st century socialism" said the "war drums" sounding in South America’s Andean region since Colombian troops made an incursion into Ecuador to kill a senior FARC guerrilla commander will politically benefit the Venezuelan government and pressure the Colombian administration to tone down its belligerent stance.

SOUTH AMERICA: Brazil Under Pressure to Mediate Conflict

Colombia’s military incursion into Ecuador is at the centre of the current crisis between three Andean nations, which must be resolved within the framework of the Organisation of American States (OAS), according to the Brazilian government’s official position as expressed Monday by Foreign Minister Celso Amorim.

COLOMBIA: Hostage Talks “Still Alive,” Despite Diplomatic Crisis

European envoys met over the weekend with members of the FARC rebel group’s central leadership to discuss how to move ahead in the efforts to negotiate a humanitarian exchange aimed at securing the release of Ingrid Betancourt and the rest of the hostages held in the jungle by the guerrillas.

TRADE: U.S.-Colombia Pact Mired in Row Over Labour Abuses

U.S. President George W. Bush has made the passing of a free trade agreement (FTA) with Colombia one of his administration's top priorities, arguing that a failure to do so would harm U.S. national security and hurt relations with one of Washington's few remaining allies in Latin America.

COLOMBIA: Ex-Hostages Call for Political Solution to Conflict

The solution to Colombia’s armed conflict must be a political one, and the government should "demilitarise" an area in order to negotiate a humanitarian swap of hostages held by the FARC guerrillas for imprisoned insurgents, the four hostages who were released this week said in the Venezuelan capital.

COLOMBIA: Displaced to March Against “Senseless War”

A statement issued by a number of organisations of internally displaced persons in Colombia calls the country’s four-decade armed conflict a "senseless war" and announces their participation in a national and global demonstration scheduled for Mar. 6.

COLOMBIA: Four Hostages Reunited with Families in Venezuela

"I am alive again; I was the living dead," said former congresswoman Gloria Polanco when she was reunited with her children in the Venezuelan capital late Wednesday, her first day of freedom since she was taken hostage by Colombia’s FARC guerrillas in July 2001.

COLOMBIA: A New Life for Freed Hostages and Their Families

Wednesday marked the start of a new chapter in the life of Ángela Rodríguez. Her husband, Luis Eladio Pérez, who was taken hostage in June 2001 by Colombia’s FARC guerrillas, returned home after being held captive in the jungle for nearly seven years.

COLOMBIA: Hostages and Peace as Pawns

This time, the Colombian government has not complained that they do not know the coordinates of the place where four politicians held as hostages by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are to be released.

COLOMBIA: Newfound Hope on Sixth Anniversary of Ingrid’s Kidnapping

The sensation on the sixth anniversary of the kidnapping of former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt by the FARC guerrillas differs significantly from the utter pessimism of previous years. "Today there is hope," her husband Juan Carlos Lecompte told IPS.

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: Workers of the World Unite – in Anti-Paramilitary Vigil

The world’s largest trade union federation has called a Mar. 6 global demonstration to pay homage to victims of Colombia’s far-right paramilitary militias and their allies in the state, political establishment and business community.

ASTRONOMY-COLOMBIA: Dazzled by Stars, Dreams and Doubts

Esteban Felipe is six years old and wants to be a policeman when he grows up. Or better still, an astronomer, he says as he plays with a plastic rocket that he decorated with coloured paper at one of the children’s workshops at the 11th Festival of self-taught astronomers.

COLOMBIA: 131 Cities on Five Continents Join Anti-FARC Demonstration

Hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated Monday in 131 cities on five continents, including more than 50 Colombian cities, to demand peace and protest against the FARC guerrillas and kidnapping.

COLOMBIA: Gov’t Throws Support Behind Anti-Guerrilla March/CORRECTION*/

Colombian ambassador to China Guillermo Vélez had hoped to be the first to lead a march against the FARC rebels called for noon Monday in Colombia, but scheduled to take place on Sunday in Beijing.

Q&A: Colombian ‘Peace Walker’ Supports Belligerent Status for Rebels

The hatred between Colombian guerrilla leaders and President Álvaro Uribe is a major factor hindering the search for an agreement to secure the release of the hostages taken by the insurgents, "peace walker" Gustavo Moncayo, whose son has spent 10 years in the hands of the insurgents, told IPS.

COLOMBIA: Interference and Belligerence

The Colombian government "is not committed to peace, but obsessed with war," the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry said in a communiqué Thursday.

COLOMBIA: Hostages’ Release, Seen from the Other Side

While the international spotlight was shined on two women hostages released by Colombia’s FARC guerrillas, IPS interviewed by telephone a woman who reflects the other side of the hostage crisis.

COLOMBIA: Hostages Handed Over by Rebels

Two Colombian politicians held hostage by the FARC guerrillas are on their way to Caracas in Venezuelan helicopters sent to a secret location in the Colombian jungle early Thursday.

COLOMBIA: Black Communities Organise in Country’s Poorest Region

During the "high season" of popular festivals in Colombia’s Chocó region, "pregnant girls as young as 13 start flowing in," says a nursing assistant in the obstetrics department at the hospital of the provincial capital, Quibdó.

COLOMBIA: Hostage Release “Blasted”

- "Uribe, reflect, my brother, let’s work for peace," said Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez when the release of three hostages by Colombia’s FARC guerrillas was postponed over the New Year’s holidays.

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: No Immediate End to Kidnap Victims’ Pain

While the eyes of the world are on the imminent release of three hostages held by Colombia’s FARC guerrillas, hundreds of other kidnapping victims in this South American country are living their own personal nightmares, but outside the glare of the spotlight.