Colombian President proposes Latin American alliance to transform ‘war on drugs’
Bogota, Colombia Reuters Colombian President Gustavo Petro proposed on Saturday an alliance between Latin American countries to bring a unified voice to the fight against drug trafficking, by recognizing drug consumption as a public health problem instead of confronting it with what he called a “failed” militarised approach. President of Colombia Gustavo Petro and Mexico’s […]
Colombia’s potential cocaine production at record high, UN says
Bogota, ColombiaReuters Potential production of cocaine in Colombia and the area sown with coca, the drug’s base ingredient, rose last year to their highest levels in two decades of monitoring, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said on Thursday. Possible output rose 14 per cent to 1,400 metric tons and the area sown […]
Colombia suspends ELN rebel arrest warrants, extradition orders to restart peace talks
Bogota, ColombiaReuters Colombia’s new President said Saturday he was suspending arrest warrants and extradition requests for members of the left-wing guerrilla group the National Liberation Army in an effort to restart peace talks to end nearly 60 years of war. The announcement is part of a principal campaign promise by newly elected Gustavo Petro, a […]
Updated: Colombia elects former guerrilla Petro as first leftist president
Updated: 12.25pm (AEST)Bogata/Bucaramanga, Colombia Reuters Leftist Gustavo Petro, a former member of the M-19 guerrilla movement who has vowed profound social and economic change, won Colombia’s presidency on Sunday, the first progressive to do so in the country’s history. Petro beat construction magnate Rodolfo Hernandez with an unexpectedly wide margin of some 719,975 votes. The […]
Colombia’s Petro: firebrand former rebel vows profound change
Bogota, Colombia Reuters Gustavo Petro, who topped voting tallies with 40.8 per cent in Colombia’s first round of presidential elections on Sunday, has said his political awakening came when he watched his father weep over the death of Argentinian revolutionary Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara. The 62-year-old senator and former mayor, who was part of the M-19 […]