Search Results for: Colombia

Colombian police arrested President Gustavo Petro’s son, Nicolas Petro on Saturday along with the President’s ex-wife Daysuris del Carmen Vasquez. The Attorney General’s Office released a statement, confirming both are facing charges of money laundering, as part of a high-profile money laundering probe into funds sourced from convicted drug traffickers and contraband traders during the [...]

The United Nations released the Global Trend Report 2022 on Wednesday which covers refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced and stateless people worldwide. 112.6 million people fall under the protection of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The number of forcibly displaced people is 108.4 million. Both figures are at their historic high since [...]

Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced Monday that Colombia is suspending a truce with the Estado Mayor Central (EMC) rebel group in flashpoint regions–including Meta, Guaviare, Putumayo and Caqueta–after the group killed four indigenous children. EMC is an offshoot of the now-disbanded Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). It consists of leftist guerrilla fighters who refused [...]

The Colombian Prosecutor’s Office is currently investigating statements made by a retired army colonel who spoke of “defenestraring” the president during a radio interview on Thursday. The controversial statements implied support of a coup d’etat against the president. This follows military protests against President Petro and his defense policies. Retired Colonel John Marulanda, the former [...]

The ongoing battle over the proposed construction of a new airport in the Albanian city of Vlora has sparked fierce debate among environmentalists worldwide. As Prime Minister Edi Rama pushes forward with plans for the airport, hundreds of young Albanians have taken to the streets to protest what they see as an impending “environmental disaster.” [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk Thursday expressed alarm at the continued erosion of the rule of law in Guatemala. Türk condemned the intimidation, harassment and prosecution faced by justice operators who worked for or operated with the UN-backed International Commission against Impunity (CICIG), including former CICIG Commissioner Francisco Dall’Anese. The Guatemala Special [...]

Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced Sunday that he suspended a ceasefire with the Clan del Golfo, Colombia’s largest drug trafficking cartel. Petro’s decision was triggered by allegations of rifle attacks by the organization against police forces. The Colombian government unveiled a bilateral ceasefire with the organization on December 31, 2022. However, the government already had [...]

Freedom and democracy are slumping worldwide, trends spurred on by rising authoritarianism, media suppression, and myriad governments’ failures to adhere to the rule of law, advocacy group Freedom House warned in its 2023 Freedom in the World report, released Thursday. The annual report, which ranks the world’s countries and territories from most to least free, [...]

The unconstitutional state of affairs doctrine, having its roots in a 1998 judgement of the Colombian Constitutional Court (CCC), has gained immense popularity due to the systemic, policy-based, manifestly illegal acts of executive branches of governments worldwide. Calls for recognizing the existence of an unconstitutional state of affairs have persistently been made in the Latin [...]

The leader of one of the largest cocaine distributors in the world Wednesday pleaded guilty to running a criminal enterprise and drug trafficking charges. Dairo Antonio Úsuga David, also known as “Otoniel,” pleaded guilty to running a continuing criminal enterprise under 21 USC §848. While the charge carries a maximum term of life imprisonment, as [...]