ELECTIONS-COLOMBIA: Unexpected Paramilitary Defeat in Cesar

Night falls and some 200 honking motorcycles and mopeds make their way along a tree-lined central avenue of the capital of the northeastern Colombian department of Cesar, celebrating the victory of governor-elect Cristian Moreno, "the candidate of the poor," in one of the birthplaces of the far-right paramilitary militias.

COLOMBIA: War Orphans Sound Alert on Paramilitary Candidates

"The parapolitics scandal has new names," said the Daughters and Sons for Memory and Against Impunity movement, which warned that paramilitary groups will meddle in Sunday’s local and regional elections in Colombia.

COLOMBIA: Foreign Firms Cash in on Generous Mining Code

These are prosperous times for Canadian mining and oil companies extracting resources from Colombia.

RIGHTS: Award Honours Defiant GIs, Crusading Colombian Senator

A growing number of U.S. military personnel are publicly expressing opposition to the ongoing occupation of Iraq, said the leaders of a group of active-duty service members who were honoured here Wednesday by the Institute for Policy Studies, a progressive Washington think tank.

COLOMBIA: Elections Under Threat

With 11 days to go to Colombia’s Oct. 28 local and regional elections, the campaign has been marred by the slaying of candidates and activists, cronyism and patronage, threats by armed groups, and the prospect of fraud and votes cast out of fear.

ENVIRONMENT-COLOMBIA: The Unusual Wealth of the Choco

"Let's go to the sea, let's go to the sea," one hears a nervous voice say every so often in the fishing village of Bahía Solano, on the Colombian Pacific coast. A package has been seen floating and boats are going after a not-so-traditional catch: cocaine thrown out by fleeing drug traffickers.

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: Defying Threats, Thousands Take to the Streets

Arbitrary arrests, menacing warnings from the army and harsh crackdowns on protesters did not daunt the tens of thousands of Colombians who took to the streets over the last three days to protest against the rightwing government of Álvaro Uribe.

COLOMBIA: The ‘Other’ Death Penalty

"It was you yourselves who killed my daddy," snapped the 12-year-old campesino girl before walking away, leaving the soldier talking to himself. He had just entered the family’s small farmhouse in southern Colombia while the rest of the troops waited outside, and asked after "the owner."

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: Paramilitary Crimes Should Be Tried by ICC

The International Criminal Court (ICC) should open an investigation into the crimes against humanity committed by the paramilitary militias in Colombia, even if they have demobilised, says a new report by the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH).

COLOMBIA: Bush, Rebel Chief Have Key Role to Play in Hostage Swap

U.S. President George W. Bush and the leader of Colombia’s FARC guerrillas, "Manuel Marulanda", both have a key role to play in the search for a humanitarian hostage-for-prisoner swap in Colombia, according to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who is attempting to broker an agreement for an exchange.

COLOMBIA: Local Candidates Sign Agreement with Civil Society in Slum

In Soacha, a violence-wracked slum on the outskirts of the Colombian capital, civil society groups persuaded six of the eight candidates for mayor of the municipality to sign an agreement on governance and transparency, ahead of the Oct. 28 local and regional elections.

COLOMBIA: Inquiry Fails to Clear Up Mystery of Hostages’ Deaths

"We didn’t need an International Forensic Commission to tell us this was homicide. The Organisation of American States (OAS) report about the deaths of the legislators from Valle del Cauca (in Colombia) saddens and disappoints us," lawyer Faisury Perdomo told IPS.

COLOMBIA: Voting for Peace

More than 100 social groups in Colombia are calling for the inclusion of a ballot in favour of peace and an exchange of imprisoned guerrillas for rebel-held hostages, in the country’s Oct. 28 local and regional elections.

COLOMBIA: Death Threats for Tracing Paramilitary Expansion

Death threats have been received by members of a think tank in the Colombian capital that published a new book describing the expansion of ultra-rightwing paramilitary militias in several provinces of Colombia and their alliance with local politicians.

COLOMBIA: Foster Families Help Child Fighters Rejoin Society

"I took in a 14-year-old boy. I did it for Colombia, for peace. These children need another chance, to be able to live and grow up as decent citizens," says Maria*, a 29-year-old mother of three.

COLOMBIA: Chavez Brokers Pact for Gov’t-FARC Talks

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’s efforts to broker a humanitarian agreement for the release of hostages held by Colombia’s guerrillas have already begun to bear fruit.

COLOMBIA: New Videos Shed Light on Palace of Justice Massacre

Judge Carlos Horacio Urán walked out of Colombia’s Palace of Justice alive after it was seized by guerrillas in 1985. But his body was found inside the building when the 27-hour siege came to an end.

COLOMBIA: Talks with ELN Halfway to Framework Accord

This week’s round of exploratory talks between the Colombian government and the insurgent National Liberation Army (ELN) in the Cuban capital came to an end Friday halfway to a framework accord for starting formal peace talks. One of the main hurdles to an agreement is the question of verification of the eventual ceasefire.

COLOMBIA: Campaign Seeks to Make Water a Constitutional Right

Sixty environmental, indigenous, labour and social organisations in Colombia are carrying out a campaign for a constitutional amendment that would make access to clean water a fundamental right.

COLOMBIA: Venezuela’s Chavez to Help Seek Humanitarian Exchange

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has agreed to help negotiate the release of hostages held for years by Colombia’s guerrillas, after meeting with the captives’ families.

COLOMBIA: FARC Hostages Died in Military-Rebel Shootout

The deaths of 11 of the 12 regional lawmakers being held hostage by Colombia’s FARC rebels may have occurred in the midst of fighting between the insurgents guarding the hostages and the "Junglas", an elite military unit, according to a reconstruction of events based on interviews by IPS.