Colombia Archives - Page 8 of 10

Five Takeaways from Colombia’s March 11 Elections

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Colombia’s presidential race takes shape after congressional and primary voting.

What Elections Mean for Colombia’s Peace Process

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Election year politics are complicating implementation of Colombia’s peace deal. The next president could seek significant changes.

Colombia’s Peace Needs a Local Touch

Leer en español At the heart of Colombia’s peace agreement with the FARC is an earnest effort to improve life in its long neglected countryside. A series of national programs for education, health, electrification, housing and credit for the agricultural sector, built into the agreement, are designed to help close a woeful development gap between … Read more

Claudia López: Colombia’s 2018 Elections Are About Who Can Defeat Corruption

Claudia López isn’t one to be shy. In 20 years of public life – as a student leader, a journalist, and now as senator for Colombia’s Green Party – the 47-year-old has earned a reputation for speaking her mind, particularly when it comes to corruption in politics. Now a candidate for presidential elections in 2018, … Read more

A Familiar Pattern of Violence Could Threaten Colombia’s Peace Process

Implementing peace was always going to be harder than negotiating it. But in the three months since Colombia’s Congress endorsed a deal to end more than 50 years of conflict with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the country’s fragile peace process has already been put to a chilling test. Since Dec. 1 of … Read more

Latin America Could Cut Its Murder Rate By 50 Percent. Here’s How.

Many deaths are unavoidable. Natural disasters and incurable illnesses can claim lives suddenly, without warning. But there is one untimely death that can be avoided – homicide. It is time for Latin America and the Caribbean to set a bold goal to bring down the murder rate. The region is one of the world’s deadliest. It is home … Read more

Six Reasons Colombia Said “No” to FARC Peace Deal

It was a shock result. But a reexamination of why Colombians voted “no” to a peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) by a margin of just 54,000 votes on Sunday sheds some light on why almost all pundits got it wrong – and what might happen next. Here are six reasons … Read more

As Colombia Votes on Peace, Child Soldiers Struggle to Adapt

They may call themselves the “generation of peace,” but young Colombians are actually among those least likely to support their government’s recent peace agreement with FARC rebels, which will be put to a plebiscite vote on October 2. Part of the reason, observers say, is that many young Colombians have not experienced the conflict as … Read more

This Week in Latin America: Cease-fire in Colombia

Sign up here to get This Week in Latin America delivered to your inbox every Monday. Laying Down Arms: A “definitive,” bilateral cease-fire in Colombia’s 52-year war with the FARC began this morning after the two sides agreed to a final peace deal on August 24. The deal will be put to a plebiscite vote on October 2, with campaigning both for and against already … Read more

Threats to Environmental Activists Put Colombia’s Indigenous at Risk

While Colombia has made remarkable strides in reducing violence over the last two decades, the country remains a dangerous – and even deadly – place for environmental activists. According to a report released June 20 by the advocacy group Global Witness, at least 26 land and environmental activists were killed in the country in 2015. … Read more

This Week in Latin America: Brazil’s Government Breakup

Sign up here to get This Week in Latin America delivered to your inbox every Monday. PMDB Decision on Rousseff: It is considered “inevitable” that Brazil’s largest political party, the PMDB, will on Tuesday formally break with the government and support the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff. One party leader tweeted “On Tuesday the 29th, the party will decide to … Read more

This Week in Latin America: Brazil’s Environmental Disaster

Sign up here to get This Week in Latin America delivered straight to your inbox every Monday. Samarco Settlement: Nearly four months after a burst mining dam in Brazil killed 19 people and caused a wave of toxic sludge to pollute major water sources, mine owner Samarco Mineração S.A. is expected Monday to announce a financial settlement with the Brazilian government. Joint … Read more