Colombians nationwide are gearing up for what promises to be one of the largest displays of public dissent in recent memory, as protests against President Gustavo Petro gain momentum. Scheduled to take place this Sunday, April 21, these demonstrations across the country, including planned protests in Houston, Miami, New York and Toronto, are shaping up to be a watershed moment in Colombia’s political landscape. The groundswell of discontent against President Petro has reached a fever pitch, with recent polling data from Datexco revealing a staggering 64% disapproval rating. This widespread dis ..read more

Visitors arriving at José María Córdova International Airport near Medellín will be handed a flyer with a very direct message: “Don’t Even Try It, It’s a Crime (You could get up to 25 years in prison).” The campaign by the Mayoralty of Colombia’s second-largest city was launched after U.S. citizen Timothy Alan Livingston lured two girls (ages 12 and 13) to his room at the Gotham Hotel. The pedophile was arrested after a hotel guest alerted the police to underage girls being escorted by the foreign national. The girls, who were sexually abused by Livingston, were placed in the care of the count ..read more

The drought-like weather that has affected the Colombian capital for several months shows no sign of easing and is exacerbated by deteriorating air quality due to high temperatures and lack of rainfall. Despite the water rationing starting last week for Bogotá’s nine million residents, Mayor Carlos Fernando Galán announced additional measures on Monday to discourage residents from using more water than necessary for personal hygiene and household needs. Mayor Galán stated that couples should shower together and use less than three minutes’ worth of water. Additionally, he announced limits on t ..read more

President Gustavo Petro seems determined to become a geopolitical isolationist. As world leaders followed events unfolding in the Middle East after the Iranian regime launched a retaliatory barrage of killer drones and cruise missiles at the state of Israel, the Colombian leader had his finger on the ‘X’ button. In what appears to be a calculated move to disseminate fake news, Petro reposted an image and text of Russian President Vladimir Putin from a so-called ‘Sr. Liberal’ (whose profile picture is AI-generated), and ‘X’ biography professes to be a Madrid-based “unique thinker and revolution ..read more

Brazil has produced a slate of literary greats, including Jorge Amado (1912-2001), Clarice Lispector (1920-1977), Nélida Piñón (1937-2022), and Paulo Coelho (b.1947), among many others. It is considered one of the largest commercial markets in South America for Spanish and Portuguese-language publishers. As a result of Brazil’s significant contribution to the world of literature, the Bogotá International Book Fair (FILBo) will honor the country as its 2024 Guest Nation. The literary extravaganza takes place at the Corferias exhibition grounds between April 17 and May 2. Edition 36 of FILBo wil ..read more

Álvaro Uribe Vélez is a behemoth of Colombian politics. A stalwart leader whose legacy in the 21st Century is matched by those who shaped a previous century: Margaret Thatcher, Pierre Trudeau, Ronald Reagan, Francois Mitterrand, Mikail Gorbachev. He also becomes the first former Colombian President to stand trial in a criminal case of alleged witness tampering and procedural fraud. The recent appointment of Luz Adriana Camargo as the country’s Attorney General, marks a pivotal moment in a decades-old investigation into the former President and the decision to press forward with a trial signals ..read more

Petro heads to Caracas. Again. The Colombian President’s face-to-face meeting with Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro is his fifth since taking office 19 months ago and comes days after the South American dictator presented the ballot for the July 28 presidential elections. A ballot on which he placed his official picture in 13 boxes to avoid confusing voters. The meeting between Petro and Maduro also comes days after Colombia’s Foreign Minister (in charge) Luis Gilberto Murillo hosted his Venezuelan counterpart Yvan Gil. During the Foreign Ministers’ encounter in the largest Colombian city on the bor ..read more

Bogotá’s ARTBO Weekend will explore creative diversity in design and host its eighth edition in the Colombian capital from April 12, 2024. With 71 participating spaces including galleries, self-managed venues, museums, institutions, and design studios, this free event aims to foster the growth, development, and promotion of Colombia’s artistic sector. Kicking off on April 12 – and running through April 14 – the eighth edition of ARTBO Weekend introduces a new addition: the Design Route. This exciting addition spotlights the diversity and creativity of Bogotá’s design scene, adding an extra lay ..read more

“We cannot afford to waste a single drop of water,” stated Bogotá Mayor Carlos Fernando Galán during a press conference on Monday, in which the district announced the water rationing measures for the Colombian capital. The city-wide restrictions that go in effect as from Thursday are based on the fact that the Chingaza reservoir that supplies 70% of the capital’s water, has seen its water levels drop to 16%, and lowest percentage since this high Andes reservoir became operational in the mid-1980s. A prolonged El Niño weather pattern, as well as very dry month of March, has resulted in water ra ..read more

Colombia is teetering on the brink of energy rationing following a warning issued by XM, the entity entrusted with the operation of the National Interconnected System (SIN). According to XM, the water levels in reservoirs that generate electricity for Colombia’s largest urban centers have plummeted to levels not seen in over two decades. “As of the latest data, the average useful volume of the system stands at a precarious 31.86%,” reads the official XM statement, highlighting “a dire situation that demands immediate intervention from authorities to safeguard against a nightmare scenario of wi ..read more