World Bank, Gates, UN pledge close to $US600 million to end cervical cancer
London, UK Reuters Global health donors pledged nearly $US600 million towards eliminating cervical cancer on Tuesday, at the first global forum dedicated to fighting the disease. The World Bank, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the UN children’s agency UNICEF said in a joint statement that the funding would go towards expanding access to […]
Peace talks with Colombia Government in crisis, ELN rebels say
Bogota, Colombia Reuters Peace talks between the Colombian Government and National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels are in crisis, the guerrilla group said, while the government accused the rebels of dragging out the process. The two sides restarted talks in 2022 as part of President Gustavo Petro’s bid to reach “total peace” between the government and […]
Colombia’s ELN would respond with force to any break in ceasefire, says leader
Bogota, Colombia Reuters Colombia’s National Liberation Army rebels will respond with military force to any break in their ceasefire with the government, leader Antonio Garcia told Reuters, predicting that the current stage of peace talks will end in 2025. President Gustavo Petro restarted negotiations with the group, founded in 1964 by radical Catholic priests, as […]
Colombia and ELN rebels extend ceasefire by six months, agree to set up fund
Bogota, Colombia/Havana, Cuba Reuters Colombia’s government and National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels have extended their bilateral ceasefire for another six months starting Tuesday, the same day they announced the creation of a fund backed by multiple donors to finance the process. An initial six-month ceasefire expired last week and was then extended by five days. […]
Colombia human rights ombudsman urges action to prevent fires
Bogota. Colombia Reuters Colombia’s human rights ombudsman on Friday urged local authorities of high-risk areas for wildfires to take preventative action, while the environment minister warned the Andean country faced new climate dangers. Earlier this week, the government of leftist President Gustavo Petro said it will declare a natural disaster to free up resources for […]
Ecuador police capture leader of Colombian dissident rebel group
Quito, Ecuador Reuters Ecuador’s police on Monday said they have captured the leader of Colombian armed group Oliver Sinisterra and that Ecuadorean authorities will return him to Colombia. News of the capture comes amid a military offensive launched by Ecuador’s government to combat criminal gangs. Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa gestures at a ceremony to deliver […]
Essay: How Ecuador went from being Latin America’s model of stability to a nation in crisis
EDUARDO GAMARRA, a professor of politics and international relations at Florida International University, looks – in an article first piblished on The Conversation – at recent events in Ecuador…
Rescuers search for survivors in deadly Colombia mudslide
Bogota, Colombia Reuters Officials were scrambling to free survivors Saturday after a mudslide brought on by heavy rains in northwest Colombia killed at least 34 people and injured dozens on a busy highway. The mudslide, which happened Friday afternoon, covered a roadway that connects the cities of Quibdo and Medellin in the Pacific province of […]
Colombia rights watchdog reports 181 activists slain in 2023
Bogota, ColombiaReuters Some 181 community activists were murdered in Colombia in 2023, the human rights ombudsman’s office said on Tuesday, calling the situation a tragedy. The number of murdered activists, known as social leaders, and human rights defenders in Colombia was lower in 2023 than the prior year, the ombudsman said, adding that killings in […]
Record half-million migrants crossed Latin America’s dangerous Darien Gap in 2023
Panama CityReuters A record 520,000 migrants crossed the treacherous jungle between Colombia and Panama known as the Darien Gap in 2023, more than double the number reported the year before, according to government figures seen by Reuters on Tuesday. The migrants who made the journey that marks the start of the dangerous trek north from […]