Colombia Reports

Colombia’s Vice-President Jose Manuel Restrepo on Thursday presented an Economic Rescue Bill that seeks to reduce government spending and increase its revenue. The bill grants extraordinary powers to President Abelardo de la Espriella to slash government spending by decree and includes a tax reform that includes higher sales tax rates on gasoline, coffee, cigarettes and vegetables. The bill also includes tax breaks for corporations in an attempt to increase investment. Abelardo’s ext

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Colombia’s Justice Minister, Ivan Cancino, downplayed the evidence of ties between President Abelardo de la Espriella and drug traffickers that was displayed in Congress by opposition Senator Ivan Cepeda. In a video, Cancino said that “political oversight is a fundamental tool of our democracy. However, it cannot become an arena for launching accusations without proving and substantiating them.” The justice minister admitted that the pieces of evidence provided to Congress &#82

Colombia’s opposition leader, senator Ian Cepeda, accused President Abelardo de la Espriella of leading an agrarian counter-reform designed to benefit land-owning clans and convicted drug traffickers. During a congressional debate, Cepeda claimed that De la Espriella put allies of drug traffickers and paramilitaries in charge of key state institutions responsible for land distribution and asset forfeiture. The president and his appointees are part of a revolving door system of people who,

The administration chief of Colombia’s President Abelardo De la Espriella told Congress that former President Gustavo Petro hired at least 48 women who were “trapped and exploited” for presidential parties. During a hearing, DAPRE director Carlos Andres Rios claimed that Petro had 48 women “working in the Presidency, who were unfortunately exploited through temporary work contracts.” We’re going to prove this to the Colombian people: how, unfortunately, the Casa de

Colombia’s President Abelardo de la Espriella recognized the election victory of his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Ignacio Lula, who defeated far-right candidate Flavio Bolsonaro on Sunday. In a post on social media platform X, the Colombian President said that “in the Colombian presidential campaign, President Lula openly supported Ivan Cepeda, and I won. In the Brazilian campaign, I supported Bolsonaro, and Lula won.” “Neither does Lula decide for Colombians, nor do I deci

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Colombia President Abelardo de la Espriella sacked Interior Minister Rodrigo Lara hours after Congress found a procedural flaw in the passed 2027 budget, which makes the law invalid. In a post on social media platform X, De la Espriella briefly thanked Lara and announced he would be replaced by the ambassador to the Organization of American States, Alejandro Ordoñez. The news surprised the interior minister, who suddenly left a congressional debate on a law to facilitate the demobilization of il

Colombia’s Congress agreed to increase the government’s 2027 budget despite promises by President Abelardo de la Espriella to reduce public spending. Next year’s budget will be COP634.9 trillion, almost $204 billion, which is 16% more than last year’s budget and 10% higher than the proposal made by former President Gustavo Petro. According to Finance Minister Miguel Gomez, the budget seeks to bring the State’s finances in line with reality. The budget was approved i

Colombia’s President Abelardo de la Espriella announced an “open, resolute, and patriotic struggle against wokeism” as part of his “cultural counterrevolution.” During a visit to the Culture Ministry, De la Espriella described wokeism as “an ideological paradigm that aims to transform moral, cultural, and social foundations in the West, perverting values, family tradition, and national identity.” According to the president, Culture Minister Paola Holguin

Colombia’s first lady, Ana Lucia Pineda, vowed to reveal how much money she collected and spent in response to the August 10 earthquake that affected hundreds of thousands of people. Amid mounting public pressure about where the money had gone, Pineda went on the morning program of public television channel Nuestro Caribe to promise that her foundation, Luz y Sonrisas, will take its finances public on Friday. Carrying a white folder, the wife of President Abelardo de la Espriella stressed

Despite intimidation attempts by the national government and the police, tens of thousands of people took to the streets throughout Colombia to protest the far-right government of President Abelardo De la Espriella. The protest had been organized by social organizations, labor unions and the country’s largest opposition party, the Historic Pact. Opposition leader Ivan Cepeda, who joined the protests in Bogota, told a reporter that the government is “exercising a mafia-style rule in t

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Colombia’s President Abelardo de la Espriella called labor unions and social organizations who organized anti-government protests for Wednesday “instigators of evil” who “seek to once again cause chaos.” In an address to the nation, De la Espriella stressed that the security forces were instructed to allow peaceful protests, but warned the protesters that “if they intend to set Colombia ablaze, they will face the determination of the tiger and his government t

Colombia’s meteorological institute IDEAM officially declared the arrival of El Niño, and warned that the climate phenomenon could trigger water shortages and forest fires. In a press statement, the IDEAM said that its “confirmation reflects the sustained warm conditions in the Pacific Ocean, which, according to the latest measurement, broke records, reaching a sea surface temperature anomaly of +3.49°C.” The meteorological institute said it expected that this year’s &#82

President Abelardo de la Espriella’s antiterrorist statute would criminalize political opposition, social movements, and social protest, and essentially form a dictatorial regime, said opposition leader Ivan Cepeda on Wednesday. In a video, Cepeda said that the true purpose of the bill that was leaked earlier seeks “to advance in the formation of essentially a dictatorial regime,.. which, moreover, has such a regime prostrate to drug trafficking.” “The true objectives of this s

President Abelardo de la Espriella announced that his Miracle Fund received COP1 trillion ($309 million) for the reconstruction of western Colombia, which was hit by a 7.4M earthquake on August 10. The announcement followed announcements by the press, which reported that the Finance Ministry allocated ($192 million) COP625 billion to the fund almost two months after the disaster. Thank you for your patience, but please understand that the government’s bureaucratic inertia and the situation we’ve

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The government of President Abelardo de la Espriella will present Colombia’s Congress with a comprehensive “counterterrorism statute,” which would give authorities enhanced powers to fight designated terrorist organizations. A 116-page draft bill, which was leaked to Caracol Radio, would facilitate a military approach to combat illegal armed groups and organized crime groups, for example through air strikes. The Antiterrorism Statute would additionally create a National Registr

The mayor of Sincelejo claimed Sunday that armed men intimidated him during a meeting with Colombia’s President Abelardo de la Espriella. In a video message, Sincelejo Mayor Yahir Acuña said that armed men positioned themselves behind him while the president accused the mayor of corruption and threatened to pull municipal funds. The accusations were partly published on the social media pages of the president, who accused Acuña of being “a person who, like you, faces 13 corruption cha