Geography Archives: Colombia

In the last days of the Trump administration, the U.S. government returned Cuba to its state sponsors of terrorism list. This was a vindictive act. Trump said it was because Cuba played host to guerrilla groups from Colombia, which was actually part of Cuba’s role as host of the peace talks.

Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia have refused to send weapons to Ukraine, despite pressure by the U.S. and EU. Latin American left-wing leaders have urged peace with Russia and called for neutrality in the West’s new cold war.

Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, and Bolivia released a joint statement supporting Peru’s elected President Pedro Castillo, saying he is the victim of “anti-democratic harassment,” following a U.S.-backed right-wing coup.

Petro’s, Lula’s, and Maduro’s positions show South Americans are united about the Amazon; it may reintegrate Venezuela.

The electoral victories of Gustavo Petro and Inacio Lula da Silva this year in Colombia and Brazil have raised hopes for a new strong impulse towards the full emancipation of Latin America and the Caribbean.

In his speech to the UN General Assembly, the Colombian president highlighted the necessity of ending the war on drugs and saving the environment.

Among other problematic issues, the so-called climate provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act allow for more oil drilling on federal lands. Greenwashing and Democratic party duplicity are nothing to celebrate for Black and Indigenous communities.

On August 7, 2022, Gustavo Petro and his running mate, Francia Márquez, were inaugurated as the President and Vice-President of the Republic of Colombia.

Biden’s top Latin America advisor Juan González threateningly said of Colombia’s new left-wing president, “40 years ago, the United States would have done everything possible to prevent the election of Gustavo Petro” and “sabotage his government.”

People are crying, embracing, yelling, as the streets fill with joy. Horns honk and people dance in the middle of avenues. They can’t believe that the news traveling by word of mouth, tweet to tweet, news show to news show, is really true. As the minutes and hours pass, they confirm that it is true: This June 19th they—the Nobodies—have won.

According to the Institute of Development and Peace Studies (INDEPAZ), 20 citizens were murdered in six massacres in the past 10 days. Five social leaders and five ex-combatants were also assassinated in the same period.

On June 19, 2022, long lines brought 39 million Colombian (out of a population of 51 million) to vote in their presidential election. In rural areas, where the vote is often suppressed due to desolation or violence, the lines seemed longest.

The decaying colonial regime in Colombia has reached a crisis. Its people, devastated by corporate destruction of their living standards and a corrupt narco regime which has exacted tremendous brutality upon them, has elected a leftist presidential candidate.

With just over 98 percent of the precincts counted, the triumph of Gustavo Petro, candidate of the Historic Pact, in the second round of the Colombian presidential elections was confirmed.

Gustavo Petro won Colombia’s June 19 election, becoming its first ever left-wing president. We analyze what this means for Latin America, the US, Venezuela, the military, paramilitary groups, the powerful oligarchy, and social movements.

Human rights movements recorded an increase of attacks against police stations, military bases, and civilians and reported assassinations and intimidation against social leaders in several departments. In February, the panorama has been no different.

The State and the ruling classes of Colombia, which constitute the counterinsurgent power bloc, have made use of a series of fallacies to hide the terrorist nature of the State in this country, consolidated as such for decades.

People frequently refer to Colombia as “the coffee-growing country,” due to its high volume of coffee exports, but in recent years Colombia has found itself in headlines for a different commodity.

“Far too many women are fighting—not only for their rights, but for the rights of all,” says Yomali Torres, an Afro-Colombian activist. The 26-year-old joined throngs of women in the streets of Colombia over the past month to demand an end to patriarchal oppression at the hands of a U.S.-backed neoliberal state.

Known as the “Red Dance,” the systematic murder of the Patriotic Union remains one of the most extreme cases of political violence in Latin America and new evidence suggests that it was concocted by one of the most decorated spies in Israeli history.