Families struggle to maintain coronavirus restrictions as they seek to stay afloat: ‘My fear is my children going hungry’
Leaders across Latin America have ordered their citizens indoors as they struggle to tame the coronavirus.
But for Liliana Pérez, an Argentinian single mother of six, staying at home is a pipe dream.
Continue reading...A full-scale disaster unfolded as we switched our phones back on after nine days of Colombian beaches and jungles
You can learn a lot about yourself in times of crisis, but you learn a hell of a lot more about the person you weather said crisis with. Best to strap in and bite your tongue. A lifetime of three weeks ago, my clever, rational other half and I went on a holiday to Colombia. He’s a man who rarely travels without a first aid kit, gaffer tape and a multi-tool thing allegedly essential for “survival”. I rarely travel without what he assumes are decadent luxuries – basic toiletries, to the rest of us – and three more books than I could possibly read. It’s a delightful match.
For eight or so days, we adventured on the country’s Caribbean coastline, trekked the jungle and landed on remote beaches far away from phone signal. It’s fair to say we were late to the memo. Turning our phones on after a self-imposed period of isolation was like watching a disaster film unfold. First, on a six-inch screen squinting at ticker tapes of rolling news. Then in full-blown Technicolor as Cartagena went into lockdown, with face masks being dealt out on street corners and a strict curfew enforced by police.
Continue reading...Three social leaders were killed last week after quarantine measures were introduced
Death squads in Colombia are taking advantage of coronavirus lockdowns to murder rural activists, local NGOs have warned.
Related: 'Staggering number' of human rights activists killed in Colombia, UN reports
Continue reading...More than 80 prisoners injured in protests against sanitary conditions in jail
A prison riot in Colombia’s capital Bogotá left 23 prisoners dead and 83 injured, the country’s justice minister said on Sunday, as detainees protested about sanitary conditions amid the global outbreak of coronavirus.
Thirty-two injured prisoners had been hospitalised, justice minister Margarita Cabello Blanco said in a video, while seven prison guards were also injured. Two guards were in a critical condition.
Continue reading...Despite a peace accord aimed at improving conditions in rural areas controlled by illegal armed groups, 107 defenders died in 2019
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed alarm at the “staggering number” of social activists killed in Colombia despite a peace accord aimed at improving conditions in poor, rural areas.
According to the UN, 107 human rights defenders were killed in 2019, a worrying number that could grow to 120 as investigations are completed. At least 10 activists have been reported killed in the first two weeks of 2020.
Continue reading...Colombia was the bloodiest nation with 103 murders and the Philippines was second, followed by Brazil, Honduras and Mexico
More than 300 human rights defenders working to protect the environment, free speech, LGBTQ rights and indigenous lands in 31 countries were killed in 2019, a new report reveals.
Two thirds of the total killings took place in Latin America where impunity from prosecution is the norm.
Continue reading...Graffiti, cooking and breakdancing are some of the attractions bringing visitors to Medellin’s once-feared district
Continue reading...Wave of protests and violence against austerity measures and political corruption swept Bolivia, Venezuela, Chile and other Latin American countries
Continue reading...Outrage has erupted in Colombia after a young woman participating in anti-government protests was grabbed by riot police in body armour, forced into an unmarked vehicle and driven away.
Video of the incident showed the woman sobbing and screaming “Help! The police have kidnapped me!” through the window of the black Chevrolet sedan as it drove away from the demonstration near the National University in Bogotá on Wednesday night.
Continue reading...Protests put more pressure on unpopular president Iván Duque, who is engaged in a ‘national dialogue’ with strike organisers
Colombians have taken to the streets for a third national strike in two weeks, piling more pressure on the unpopular rightwing president, Iván Duque, and his proposed tax reforms.
Thousands thronged the streets of Bogotá, the capital, shutting down much of the city’s historic centre, indicating that the unrest will continue while Duque engages in a “national dialogue” with strike organisers.
Continue reading...Fatal explosion at police station in south-west also injured 10 officers amid 9pm curfew in capital
Three police were killed in a bomb blast at a police station in Colombia after thousands gathered for renewed protests and sporadic looting erupted in the capital, Bogotá.
A police source said 10 officers were also injured in the explosion late on Friday in the town of Santander de Quilichao, in the south-western province of Cauca, known as a hot spot for drug trafficking and violence.
The source did not attribute the bombing to a particular armed group. Police are expected to hold a news conference on Saturday morning.
The blast came after demonstrations flared again in several parts of Bogotá a day after mass marches ended in three deaths.
After more than 250,000 people marched on Thursday to express growing discontent with president Iván Duque’s government, another large crowd gathered on Friday afternoon in Bogotá’s Bolívar Plaza.
Continue reading...Violent clashes broke out in Bogotá's storied Bolívar Square on Thursday with police using thick clouds of teargas and water cannon to disperse protesters amassed there. People fleeing the scene were visibly affected by clouds of noxious gas. Earlier in the day, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across the country to demand the government maintain the minimum wage for young people and the universal right to a pension, even though the authorities have repeatedly denied they are considering those changes
Continue reading...Border closures, curfews and bans on sale of alcohol announced as tens of thousands are expected to march amid wave of turmoil
Colombia’s government has announced plans to close its borders, part of a string of measures to contain mass strikes and protests planned this week amid sweeping unrest in South America.
Tens of thousands are expected to join protests on Thursday against the rightwing government of Iván Duque, whose popularity has dwindled steadily since he took office in August last year.
Continue reading...Operation aims to route out armed groups in conflict-ridden Cauca province and hunt down gunmen responsible for massacre
Colombia’s government has launched a military offensive to hunt down the gunmen responsible for the massacre of five indigenous leaders in the south-western province of Cauca.
The president, Iván Duque, travelled to the region on Wednesday along with his defence and interior ministers to condemn the massacre and oversee operations to root out armed groups that plague the conflict-ridden Cauca province.
Continue reading...Legend has it that Faroto tribesmen once defended their community in north Colombia by dressing as women to lure Spanish conquistadors into an ambush. In a country ravaged by civil conflict, the annual ‘danza de las Foratas’ keeps the indigenous tradition alive and contributes to dialogue and peace-building
All photographs by Louise Norton for Cafod
Continue reading...The risky hillside pastime – which sees people hurtle down steep inclines on weighted bikes at up to 77 mph – is providing kids in downtrodden areas of Colombia’s second city with an escape from their troubles
As the cable cars that connect downtown Medellín – Colombia’s second city – to the hillside slums pass overhead, a band of teenage cyclists have gathered at the side of the road. Vallejuelos is a downtrodden neighbourhood, rife with crime and unemployment, but “gravity biking” is helping some kids escape their troubles.
Continue reading...Killing of Karina García reflects targeting of female contenders, amid mounting security concerns
The body of mayoral candidate Karina García was found shot and incinerated in her car in the Cauca department of southern Colombia, on 1 September.
For weeks, García had reported receiving threats and asked the government for increased protection during campaigning for the local and departmental elections at the end of the month.
Continue reading...Opposition leader plays down images but analysts say they could prove highly damaging
Juan Guaidó, the Venezuelan politician fighting to topple Nicolás Maduro, is facing awkward questions about his relationship with organised crime after the publication of compromising photographs showing him with two Colombian paramilitaries.
In an interview on Friday, Guaidó played down the significance of the pictures, in which he posed alongside two members of the Colombian criminal gang the Rastrojos identified as El Brother and El Menor.
Continue reading...Three groups are fighting over drug routes and coca plantations as 40,000 have fled their homes, says Human Rights Watch
Illegal armed groups have forced about 40,000 people to flee their homes as they fight for control of drug trafficking routes in Colombia’s Catatumbo region bordering Venezuela, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch.
The 64-page report highlights the significant security challenges that Colombia still faces after the government signed a 2016 peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) guerrilla group. That deal and a weak state presence has left a void in Catatumbo and other remote areas that has been filled by smaller armed groups, which are unleashing a new wave of drug-fueled violence.
Continue reading...Most of the animals at the Santa Cruz Foundation in San Antonio, Colombia, have been rescued from traffickers and circuses. The multimillion-dollar illegal wildlife trade is the fourth-largest in the country after drugs, guns and human trafficking