Tag: Colombia

21 dead in car bomb attack on Colombian police academy

by Hector Velasco Agence France Presse BOGOTA, Colombia (AFP) — Colombia’ s government declared three days of mourning Thursday after at least 21 people died in a car bomb at a Bogota police cadet training academy, and 68 were wounded — the worst such incident in the city in 16 years. The defense ministry said the “terrorist act” was carried out using a vehicle packed with 80 kilograms (around 175 pounds) of explosives. “Unfortunately, the […]

Ten killed in car bomb attack on Colombian police academy

by Hector Velasco Agence France Presse BOGOTA, Colombia (AFP) — A car bomb attack on a police cadet training academy killed 10 people and wounded 65 on Thursday in Bogota, making it the worst such incident in the Colombian capital in 16 years. The defense ministry said the “terrorist act” was carried out using a vehicle packed with 80 kilograms (around 175 pounds) of explosives. “All Colombians reject terrorism and we’re united in fighting it,” […]

Authorities struggle to identify Ecuador tourist bus crash dead

  QUITO, Ecuador (AFP) — Identification of the 24 victims of a fatal tourist bus crash in Ecuador has been hampered by the dead not carrying official documents, authorities said on Wednesday. “Unfortunately, the bodies arrived without any identity documents, making it difficult to identify them,” said forensics chief Klever Viteri outside the morgue in the western town of Pichincha. So far, seven Colombians, four Venezuelans and two Ecuadorians have been identified. Bogota confirmed earlier in […]

Colombia’s new leader plans changes to FARC peace deal

    by Hector Velasco / Rodrigo Almonacid Agence France-Presse BOGOTA, Colombia (AFP) — Colombia’s new President Ivan Duque took office Tuesday, with no shortage of tough issues to tackle, from heightened tensions with neighboring Venezuela to the lingering difficulties of peace-building with the nation’s rebel groups. The right-wing Duque, who is just 42 years old, succeeds Juan Manuel Santos — and could work to undo the deal his predecessor reached with leftist FARC guerrillas to […]

Venezuela vows to eradicate plots after Maduro ‘assassination’ bid

    by Alexander Martinez Agence France-Presse CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuelan authorities vowed Monday to “root out” plots against President Nicolas Maduro after what they said was a weekend drone “assassination” bid backed by Colombia. An accusation by Maduro that his Colombian counterpart Juan Manuel Santos was behind the incident has worsened already fraught ties between Caracas and Bogota. Santos, who hands over power to elected successor Ivan Duque on Tuesday, has categorically rejected the accusation. […]

England ends penalty pain to beat Colombia in World Cup shootout

by John Weaver Agence France Presse England held its nerve against Colombia to win its first ever penalty shootout in a World Cup and reach the quarter-finals in dramatic fashion on Tuesday. Eric Dier scored the decisive spot-kick to win the shootout 4-3 and send Gareth Southgate’s young team through to a meeting with Sweden, who earlier beat Switzerland. A bad-tempered match at Moscow’s Spartak Stadium that featured eight yellow cards — six for Colombian […]

UNESCO marks Colombian national park for conservation

MANAMA, Bahrain (AFP) – Colombia’s massive Chiribiquete National Park has made UNESCO’s World Heritage List, the United Nations body announced Sunday. “Congratulations,” the UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization announced on Twitter. With an area of ​​2.7 million hectares (6.7 million acres) covering five Amazonian municipalities in the southern Guaviare and Caqueta regions, Colombia’s largest natural park has rich biodiversity and is a sacred place for indigenous people. This is the ninth world heritage listing […]

Bodies found in Colombia are journalists from Ecuador

  CALI, Colombia (AFP) — Colombian prosecutors said Monday that bodies found in a border jungle area were those of three Ecuadoran journalists who were killed after being held hostage. The bodies, found on Thursday, were those of reporter Javier Ortega, 32, photographer Paul Rivas, 45, and their driver Efrain Segarra 60. The trio was abducted on March 26. The bodies “will be handed over to Ecuadoran authorities who already have arranged the air transport from […]

UPDATED: Japan makes history with win against 10-man Colombia in World Cup Group H opener

by Ryland James Agence France Presse SARANSK, Russia — Yuya Osako exacted sweet revenge for Japan on Tuesday as the Blue Samurai beat Colombia  2-1, becoming the first Asian side ever to beat a South American team at the World Cup. Osako’s 73rd-minute winner meant the Japanese avenged their 4-1 mauling in the group stages of Brazil 2014 as Colombia played with a man down for 86 minutes in Saransk. After leaving Brazil without a […]

Journalists killing shows Ecuador, Colombia must act on ‘narco border’

  by Hector Velasco with Jordi Miró in Quito © Agence France-Presse BOGOTA, Colombia (AFP) — The kidnapping and killing of two journalists and their driver has thrown up an uncomfortable truth for Colombia and Ecuador, analysts say: that their long-neglected border has become a drug traffickers’ nirvana. The two governments sent troops into the dense jungle area to hunt for the killers and re-establish control over a region analysts say has become a key corridor […]

Colombia’s FARC furious over ex-rebel’s arrest on drugs charges

    BOGOTA, Colombia (AFP) — The arrest of a former FARC negotiator on US drug charges has brought Colombia’s landmark peace deal to its “most critical point,” the former rebel group warned on Tuesday. Jesus Santrich, a senior member of rebel-group-turned-political-party who had been slated to take a seat in Colombia’s Congress in July, was arrested on Monday in Bogota. Prosecutors in New York accuse him of conspiring to ship 10,000 kilograms of cocaine to […]

Trump to make the first trip to Latin America

by Andrew Beatty Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Donald Trump will make his Latin America debut next month, visiting Peru and Colombia after harsh rhetoric towards Hispanic migrants and neighbors to the south. Trump will travel to Peru to attend the Summit of the Americas in Lima on April 13-14, a gathering of leaders from across the Western Hemisphere. From there he will visit Colombia, White House officials told AFP. The announcement ends […]