Forcibly displaced by the armed conflict, Indigenous children are forced to grow up early living on the streets of Bogotá.Read the full article
The guiding principle of the public library is that everyone deserves free and open access to our common cultural heritage. This places the institution at fundamental odds with capitalist consumer ideals. From New Delhi to Los Angeles, we visit seven ‘palaces for the [...]Read the full article
Peru, Chile and Colombia are the newest cards on the left in a region that is once again shifting in that political direction, as it did in the first decade of this century. But these are not such prosperous times as they were back then, and the agendas have [...]Read the full article
The leftist president-elect is seeking to form a coalition government that will allow him to deliver the far-reaching reforms he has promised. The economy will be the yardstick by which he will be measured.Read the full article
As the ageing of the world’s population accelerates, what of the older people on the move within its fastest ageing region, Latin America?Read the full article
A key task for those elected is to rethink the development model that has been pursued for over 30 years, with appalling results. If we succeed in turning trade union proposals into public policy, the principles of ever more decent work will become a [...]Read the full article
After 30 years on Bogotá’s buses, I fear that just transition is slipping out of our hands
Francisco Mora:
“December 2021. That’s the last date when the buses I have been working in and around my whole life will be phased out, for a new generation of all-electric ones. That is also the date I will lose my job, just three years short of retirement and without other alternatives to fall back [...]Read the full article
Francisco Mora:
“December 2021. That’s the last date when the buses I have been working in and around my whole life will be phased out, for a new generation of all-electric ones. That is also the date I will lose my job, just three years short of retirement and without other alternatives to fall back [...]Read the full article
The threats linked to trade union work in Colombia are so constant that trade unionists have grown accustomed to them. Today, the country’s trade unions are struggling to survive the violence of the present whilst appealing to the transitional justice system to end the impunity surrounding the [...]Read the full article
“Our country’s elites have failed to construct a national project, a project of society. In face of this failure, the impoverished majority, and in particular the young, have come forward with their own proposals to build the new social contract that Colombia needs [...]Read the full article
“In Colombia, pursuing the truth, building memory and giving dignity to the lives, history and memories of our loved ones is a dangerous task, but we undertake it with responsibility and courage, with all our affection, in remembrance of [...]Read the full article
When armed conflicts drag on for decades or terrorist attacks mark the lives of several generations, the testimonies of those responsible sometimes do more to heal than ordinary justice.Read the full article
“It is urgent, therefore, that we put the peace process in Colombia under the microscope, because in the last two years, instead of making progress, it has gone backwards. The sooner we realise that, and act accordingly, the better it will be for everyone, especially [...]Read the full article
The historic peace agreement is at a very delicate stage. The reason? The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (SJP), the tribunal that was created to judge the war, is today a battlefield between two conflicting views. Meanwhile, insecurity in the country is [...]Read the full article
In Europe, local newspapers have lost readers’ trust and support, but new media outlets are emerging with a different approach. In South America and Africa, meanwhile, new opportunities are emerging to build counterpower at local [...]Read the full article
Depending on the type of legislation passed, Colombia’s new million-dollar medical cannabis industry could play a major role as global producer and exporter. This represents an opportunity for the country to change negative perceptions surrounding drug trafficking and bring dignity to the work [...]Read the full article
What was once a FARC military base during the armed conflict is now the setting of a Paz al Bosque (Peace in the Forest) workshop. It is a space bringing together the ‘protagonists’ – former guerrilla fighters, police officers, soldiers and local farmers. Much more than the unprecedented photo [...]Read the full article
There has been no respite from the violence in Colombia since the historic peace process that put an end to a war lasting over half a century. It is the country with the highest rate of murders (committed with impunity and suspected of following a pattern) targeting human rights defenders in [...]Read the full article
On 14 June, the women of Argentina made history: the lower house of Congress passed a bill to decriminalise abortion. Macri’s decision to process the bill is a testament to the strength of the feminist movement in Argentina. But it is not only in this Latin American country that feminist [...]Read the full article
“When you speak to donors about supporting access to healthcare, for example, it needs to be framed in terms of general access that benefits migrants and local communities alike,” to help minimise any xenophobic sentiment and to promote development and [...]Read the full article
From north to south, the Americas are in the grip of an intense election year, set against the background of Lula’s imprisonment in Brazil, the participation of the FARC in Colombia, rising violence in Mexico and calls to reject the results in Cuba and Venezuela. Leading the polls are the most [...]Read the full article
For the National Liberation Army (ELN), Colombia’s principal guerilla group after the demobilisation of the FARC, peace seems far away. After a wave of attacks by the ELN in January and February, the government has suspended the talks begun a year ago and resumed military [...]Read the full article
Social movements are faced with heightened repression under the governments of Temer in Brazil and Macri in Argentina. More than repression, social organisations in Colombia and Mexico talk of a war orchestrated by the elites against the people, to preserve their control over the [...]Read the full article
Gold rich regions of Colombia are at the centre of a new gold rush, giving rise to violence and displacements. Whilst the miners who inherited this trade from their ancestors are declared illegal by the government, multinationals and armed mafias compete for control of the [...]Read the full article
The heavy rains during the first few months of 2017 left dozens dead and thousands affected in Peru, Colombia and Ecuador. Were these tragedies avoidable?Read the full article
The civic strike in Buenaventura, during May of this year, and the repression of activists, accused of vandalism by the government, brought the plight of Afro-descendant Colombians into the global spotlight. But what lies behind these recent [...]Read the full article
The Wayúu are the largest Indigenous community in Colombia, one of the world’s most ethnically diverse countries. They live on isolated farms in La Guajira, a desert region on the border with Venezuela. Their traditional way of life is at risk from drought, local corruption and the absence of [...]Read the full article
“We’ll lay our lives on the line to stop them from killing our plants. We won’t let them destroy our crops without offering us solutions.”Read the full article
Thousand of women dedicate their whole lives to childcare without the right to a state pension. The Constitutional Court of Colombia recently ruled that they should be recognised as workers.Read the full article
Towards a Colombian ‘spring’?
Xajamaïa Domínguez Mazhari:
“After a chaotic week, Colombians seem to want to recover the hopes dashed by the referendum”Read the full article
Xajamaïa Domínguez Mazhari:
“After a chaotic week, Colombians seem to want to recover the hopes dashed by the referendum”Read the full article
Photo reporter and journalist Aitor Sáez goes deep into the Colombian jungle to learn about the hopes and fears of the FARC foot soldiers regarding their future lives as civilians and the new political party (which the FARC will be turned into as of [...]Read the full article
“Some forgive, others don’t want to forgive, but most damaging of all is the publicity over-simplifying the public”Read the full article
The Colombian peace agreement forces FARC insurgents to confront their past and take on the challenge of reconciliation and reintegrationRead the full article
While trade has liberalised, intense violence has besieged Colombia’s incipient union movement, which faces brutality from paramilitary, criminal, and state forcesRead the full article
“This issue of impunity is very problematic in Colombia”Read the full article
