COLOMBIA: Thousands of Poor Line Up All Night for Gov’t Aid

Spending the cold Bogotá night outside on a sidewalk is not recommended. But thousands of poor Colombians, including many displaced by the civil war, had no choice this week if they wanted to register for the meagre assistance offered by the government’s Families in Action programme before the deadline expired.

COLOMBIA: Uribe Prepared to Sign Agreement with ELN

The Colombian government has essentially opened up its exploratory talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN) to civil society representatives, while saying it is "willing" to sign an initial agreement with the rebel group. If the proposal is successful, it could mean the release of as many as 200 kidnap victims held by the guerrillas.

COLOMBIA: Reporters Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Between 6:00 and 7:00 AM Friday there was no regular news broadcast in the northeastern Colombian town of Saravena. Instead, the Notifrontera news team of the Sarare Estéreo radio station read out a brief statement and played Colombian folk music.

COLOMBIA: ‘Peace Walker’ Welcomed by Tens of Thousands

Colombian teacher Gustavo Moncayo has collected more than two million signatures in favour of a swap of imprisoned guerrillas for hostages held by the leftist rebels - including his son - as he walked from southwestern Colombia to the capital, which he reached Wednesday, welcomed by millions of supporters.

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: Victims Speak Out and Demand Respect

"One encounter, many paths: united against forgetting," the placards read, as 3,500 victims of the civil war in Colombia demand recognition and respect, from the authorities and society.

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: ‘Parapolitics’ Immunity Loophole Closing

Colombia's Attorney General has asked that all cases against politicians for alleged links with rightwing paramilitaries commanded by drug traffickers be tried in the capital city. Human rights lawyers are applauding the move.

COLOMBIA: &#39Independence? What Independence?&#39 Indigenous Peoples Ask

Colombia celebrated 197 years of independence from Spain on Friday, Jul. 20. On Monday, at dawn, some 5,000 indigenous people set off on an 800-kilometre journey to ask the government, "what independence?"

COLOMBIA: Displaced People Find Relative Calm in Bogota

What do Colombian children displaced by the war like most about this city? The tall buildings, the avenues, the museums and the cars. They love the parks, the sports fields and the rides in the amusement parks, according to a report by the Catholic Church and the main non-governmental source on displaced people.

DISARMAMENT: The Meltdown Begins

It was gesture to pave the way. A meltdown took place last week, but it wasn't the collapse of a government or institution - rather the destruction of nearly 14,000 small arms and light weapons in Colombia on International Gun Destruction Day.

COLOMBIA-ECUADOR: Coca Spraying Makes for Toxic Relations

Ecuador is making its final preparations to bring suit against Colombia in the International Court of Justice at The Hague over anti-coca spraying carried out by Colombia along their shared border. Quito had already given notice of its intentions.

COLOMBIA: Using Communication to Build Peace

"We don't want to give birth to children who go off to war. We want our children to be filmmakers, painters, dentists, whatever they want, but not to repeat this disgraceful war," a Colombian woman tells IPS.

RIGHTS: Abuses in Colombia on Trial in U.S.

Two U.S. corporations that have operated in Colombia - Chiquita Brands International and Drummond Company Inc. - stand accused of aiding far-right paramilitary groups with alleged ties to the Colombian government.

LABOUR-COLOMBIA: Foreign Firms Urged to Help Prevent Rights Abuses

Amnesty International is calling on foreign companies operating in Colombia to use their influence on the government "to end and prevent human rights abuses against trade unionists."

COLOMBIA: Possible ELN Ceasefire, 11 FARC Hostages Killed

While there appears to be progress in ongoing talks here towards a ceasefire between the Colombian government and the insurgent National Liberation Army (ELN), it was confirmed Thursday that 11 lawmakers taken hostage in 2002 by Colombia's largest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), had recently been killed.

COLOMBIA: Civil Resistance Aimed at Recuperating Biodiverse Lands

Indigenous and black communities of Colombia's north-western department of Chocó are trying to recover their lands and food sources, lost to the decades-long civil war that has taken its toll on this area of vast biological diversity.

COSTA RICA: Sanctuary for Colombian Refugees

People fleeing Colombia receive protection and assistance in Costa Rica. But integration is difficult, and the refugees continue to face threats from paid killers sent from the war-torn country they fled.

COLOMBIA-ECUADOR: Studies Find DNA Damage from Anti-Coca Herbicide

U.S.-funded aerial spraying of coca plantations in Colombia near the Ecuador border has severely damaged the DNA of local residents, a new study has found.

US-COLOMBIA: Dismal Rights Record Shadows Uribe Visit

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is back in Washington for the second time in just over a month to lobby for a U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement (FTA) but he faces significant opposition from human rights groups and within the U.S. Congress itself.

COLOMBIA-ECUADOR: ‘There Are No Plants or Animals Left’

A new U.S. government report acknowledges that coca crops expanded last year in Colombia, despite the heavy herbicide spraying carried out under Plan Colombia, which has been loudly protested by neighbouring Ecuador for causing damages to human and animal health and food crops in border areas.

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: ‘You Can’t Stop Thinking About Their Agony’

"The people who go up there to talk are really brave," B., a poor 39-year-old black woman, told IPS. She was only able to identify the body of her 20-year-old son, a victim of one of the countless massacres of young men in this Colombian port city, from surgical scars on one of his limbs.

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: Don’t Cross that Invisible Line

"We can't go from one barrio to another. Whoever does that is at risk of losing their life," a community organiser in this Pacific port city in Colombia told IPS.