La guerra es contra el glifosato
Más de 20 mil firmas alcanzó en pocos días la petición hecha en la plataforma Change.org para acabar con la fumigación con glifosato de cultivos ilícitos en Colombia. La abogada ambientalista Astrid Puentes Riaño de la Asociación Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente (AIDA), autora de la iniciativa, espera recaudar 25 mil apoyos antes de … Read more
Monday Memo: Castro visits Pope—Chilean Cabinet—Colombian Coca—Guatemalan Corruption—Central American Geothermal
This week’s likely news stories: Raúl Castro has an audience with the Pope; Michelle Bachelet shakes up her Cabinet; Colombia bans coca spraying; a Guatemalan judge is linked to a corruption scandal; Germany will invest in Central American geothermal projects. Cuban President Meets with the Pope: Cuban President Raúl Castro met with Pope Francis this … Read more
Medellín, The Smart City
Expectant mothers in the poorest areas of Medellín, Colombia, once had to travel far from their neighborhoods for doctor appointments—often spending more money than they earned in a day on transportation. But thanks to the Buen Comienzo (Good Start) program provided by the city government’s Medellín Ciudad Inteligente (Medellín Smart City) initiative, mothers-to-be in the … Read more
Silicon Valley 2.0
Not too long ago, in a city known for its sunshine and surrounding mountains, a team of young developers submitted their newest creation to Apple’s app store. It was called Typic. Beautiful in its simplicity, it offered a means of artistically embedding text in a photo, along with various filters and other options. After the … Read more
Colombia’s Internet Advantage
We are at the center of a revolution. The social, cultural and political changes triggered by the development of information and communications technologies (ICTs) that were unforeseeable just a couple of decades ago are now an undeniable reality. As our children and grandchildren are keen to remind us, once-transformative technologies such as fax machines and … Read more
Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Responds to Sentencing of Top Aides
Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe responded yesterday to the Colombian Supreme Court’s April 30 sentencing of two high-ranking members of his administration who organized a spy ring targeting Uribe’s political opponents and critics. María del Pilar Hurtado, former head of the now-defunct Colombian intelligence agency Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad (DAS), received a 14-year prison term, … Read more
Teachers’ Union, Government Fail to Reach Deal in Colombia
Over 330,000 teachers will continue to strike in Colombia after a 20-hour round of talks between the government and the Federación Colombiana de Educadores (Colombian Teachers’ Federation—FECODE) failed to produce an agreement. The results of the meeting were announced yesterday by the Defensoría del Pueblo(National Ombudsman’s Office), which is mediating the negotiations. The strike, which began on April 22 and centers around teachers’ … Read more
Colombia Resumes Air Raids on FARC after Attack Kills Ten Soldiers
On Wednesday, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos ordered the resumed bombing of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—FARC) after an early morning attack by the rebel group killed at least 10 soldiers and left 17 injured. In the deadliest clash since the FARC announced a unilateral cease fire nearly four … Read more
Monday Memo: Brazil Protests—Colombian Generals Investigation—Obama-Castro Meeting—Puerto Rico Debt—Chilean Mining
This week’s likely top stories: Brazilians demonstrate against corruption; Colombian generals investigated; Obama and Castro hold meeting; Puerto Rico seeks debt help; Chilean communities fight mining companies over water. Hundreds of Thousands Protest Corruption in Brazil: Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians took to the streets on Sunday to protest government corruption. Estimates of participants vary, but police say … Read more
Russian Foreign Minister Concludes Tour of Latin America
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov culminated a four-country tour of Latin America on Thursday in what was widely seen as Moscow’s latest bid to counteract Western sanctions over Russia’s policies in Ukraine and Crimea. Earlier this week, Lavrov met with heads of state Raúl Castro in Cuba, Juan Manual Santos in Colombia and Daniel Ortega … Read more
Colombia: Lo irreversible del proceso de paz
Cada vez que nuevos anuncios emergen de la mesa de conversaciones que el gobierno mantiene con las FARC en Cuba, el presidente Juan Manuel Santos califica el proceso de ‘irreversible’, ‘cerca del fin’ o de ingresar a ‘una etapa definitiva’. Cierto es que tras 33 rondas de conversaciones y pese al hermetismo de las primeras, … Read more
Latin American Countries Lobby for Reform of Global Drug Policy
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) opened its 58th session on the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) on Monday in Vienna, Austria, with several Latin American countries—Mexico, Colombia, Uruguay and Bolivia—lobbying for a reform of global counternarcotic strategy. The CND special opening session will meet until March 13 to prepare for the … Read more
Monday Memo: Colombia Peace Talks—Peru-Chile Spying—Citigroup Sale—Puerto Rico VAT—Chilean Corruption
This week’s likely top stories: Colombia and FARC agree to clear landmines; Peru recalls ambassador to Chile; Citigroup to sell Central American entities; Puerto Rico debates possible VAT; Chilean officials charged with corruption. Colombia and FARC to Remove Landmines: The Colombian and the FARC guerrilla group reached an agreement on Saturday to work together to … Read more
Monday Memo: U.S.-Cuba Talks — Colombia Peace Talks — Latin American Currencies — New Uruguayan President — Peruvian Ecotourism
This week’s likely top stories:U.S.-Cuba talks promising; New delegation for FARC peace talks; Dollar strengthens against Latin American currencies; Tabaré Vázquez takes office; Peruvian businesses to learn from Costa Rican ecotourism. U.S.-Cuba Normalization Talks Promising: After two rounds of talks—one in Havana last month and the second in Washington DC on Friday—the U.S. and Cuba … Read more
Colombian Court Rules There Must Be a Biological Tie for Gay Adoption
Colombia’s Constitutional Court upheld the right of adoption by same-sex couples on Wednesday via Twitter, but only if the child in question has biological ties to one of the partners. The narrow 5-4 ruling excludes gay adoption in other circumstances. “Adoption will only be allowed when it deals with the biological child of the same … Read more
