Colombia protests China’s execution of 72-year-old drug mule

A retired journalist who joined the criminal underworld while researching a book on South America’s drug cartels became the first Colombian, and possibly the first Latin American, to be executed in China for drug The execution Monday night of Ismael Arciniegas occurred amid a last-ditch diplomatic effort by Colombia’s government to save the 72-year-old’s life. Arciniegas was arrested in 2010 arriving by plane to the southern port city of Guangzhou trying to smuggle almost 4 kilograms of cocaine in exchange for $5,000.

Colombian Police Suspect ELN Rebels Behind Bullring Explosion

Colombian authorities suspect Marxist ELN rebels were behind a bomb attack near Bogota’s bullring on Sunday, leaving dozens of police officers injured as they prepared for anti-bullfighting protests in Colombia’s capital. “It’s a hypothesis we’re investigating,” Bogota police chief General Hoover Penilla told reporters on Monday.

Bomb explodes by Colombia bull ring, killing 1 policeman

A homemade bomb exploded near Bogota’s bullring on Sunday, killing a police officer and injuring as many as 31 bystanders. The artefact, whose loud explosion shattered windows in nearby apartment buildings, appears to have been left in a sewer outside a new youth hostel popular with foreign backpackers.

Higgins ‘moved’ by influence of peace process on Colombia

President Michael D Higgins said it was “deeply moving” that Colombia used the peace process in Ireland as an inspiration for its own conflict agreement, in a keynote address in Bogota yesterday. President Michael D Higgins at the Universidad National de Colombia as he makes his way to give his address on the Irish and Colombian peace processes with Professor Ignacio Mantilla Prada, left, rector of UNAL.

Ecopetrol – A High-Risk Investment

It has been a tough two years for energy companies globally with sharply weaker oil placing considerable pressure on margins and the economic viability of a range of oil assets. One integrated energy company that has been hit particularly hard is Colombian government controlled integrated energy major Ecopetrol .