Colombia

Colombian President Gustavo Petro Offers To Host Venezuelan Talks

April 19, 2023 William Camacaro, Popular Resistance. Educate! Colombia, Joe Biden, Negotiations, Venezuela

Caracas, Venezuela - Given the complete failure of Juan Guaido to garner support as an “interim president” and the breakdown of talks between the Venezuelan government and opposition figures in Mexico City, the State Department has started a new strategy to undermine the Bolivarian revolution: an international conference in Bogota. According to Colombian Foreign Minister, Alvaro Leyva, the full spectrum of the Venezuelan opposition--from the left to the right--is invited to participate. France, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil, the U.S. and Canada are also expected to have representatives at the table.

Colombian Peace Caravan: Bringing The Hope Of ‘Total Peace’

February 20, 2023 Ajamu Baraka, Black Agenda Report. Organize! Afro-Colombians, Colombia, Indigenous Peoples, Peace

Ajamu Baraka was invited to serve as part of an international delegation of human rights defenders that would accompany the activists, community leaders, government officials and representatives of the National Liberation Army on an historic “humanitarian Caravan” in January to the Indigenous and Afro-Colombian areas of the Pacific coast of Colombia as part of the peace process initiated by the new government. Ajamu was also an observer and international guarantor in Havana, Cuba during the last round of the Peace Process that produced the Ethnic Chapter of the peace agreement between the government and the FARC in 2016. This is his report back on the Caravan.

Latin America Refuses To Send Ukraine Weapons, Despite Western Pressure

January 30, 2023 Ben Norton, Geopolitical Economy Report. Resistance Report Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Latin America, Russia, Ukraine, Wars and Militarism, weapons

Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia have refused to send weapons to Ukraine, despite pressure by the US and EU. Latin American left-wing leaders have urged peace with Russia and called for neutrality in the West’s new cold war. Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia have rejected requests by the United States and European Union that they send weapons to Ukraine. The commander of the US military’s Southern Command (Southcom), which operates in Latin America and the Caribbean, revealed on January 19 that Washington has been pressuring countries in the region to arm Ukraine. Southcom wants Latin American nations to “replace [their] Russian equipment with United States equipment – if those countries want to donate it to Ukraine”, said Army General Laura J. Richardson.

Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia Back Peru’s President Castillo

December 14, 2022 Ben Norton, Multipolarista. Educate! Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Coups, Latin America, Mexico, Pedro Castillo, Peru

The governments of Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, and Bolivia released a joint statement supporting Peru’s democratically elected President Pedro Castillo, saying he is the victim of “anti-democratic harassment.” Castillo was overthrown in a coup d’etat on December 7, led by the infamously corrupt right-wing opposition that controls Peru’s unicameral congress, which has an approval rating of between 7% and 11%. The US-dominated Organization of American States (OAS) and State Department have openly supported the coup, backing unelected leader Dina Boluarte, who declared herself president in collaboration with the congress. Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, and Colombia wrote that they “express their profound concern for the recent events that resulted in the removal and detention of José Pedro Castillo Terrones, president of the Republic of Peru.”

Bringing The People’s Voices Into Government

December 2, 2022 Teri Mattson, WTF is Going on in Latin America and the Caribbean. Podcast – WTF is Going on in Latin America & the Caribbean Colombia, Gustavo Petro, Left Politics, Politicians, Social Movements

This episode was broadcast LIVE FROM BOGOTÁ with guest Lilia Solano, Vice Minister of Social Dialogue and Equality for the government of Colombia Host Teri Mattson has been in Bogotá since 24 November attending several encuentros organized by Vice Minister Lilia Solano. In this episode Teri and Lilia discuss the Petro government’s vision of bringing the 1991 Constitutional reform of direct democracy to reality among the Colombian people and the creation of social movements to develop informed citizens, build political formation and continue to create electoral candidates for the continuation of the Pacto Historico.

Joe Brewer’s Bold Quest To Help Restore A Bioregion

December 2, 2022 David Bollier. Create! climate crisis, Colombia, Environment, Regeneration

Disaffected with his way of life in the US and concerned about the multiple ecological crises bearing down on humankind, Joe Brewer set off on a journey to learn what he might be able to do. He had considerable background in the earth sciences, studied cognitive linguistics and philosophy, and had worked with the activist group, The Rules. But restoring an entire ecosystem would be a novel challenge. In 2019, Brewer ended up in Barichara, Colombia, with his wife and infant daughter, where he soon found himself helping to catalyze a "living laboratory of regeneration" of a degraded landscape, an arid tropical forest, in the northern Andes. Ninety percent of the forest in the region's one million acres had been cut down, causing the once-fertile food forest to dry out and become a desert.

Colombia And Venezuela, Brother Nations Reunite

November 11, 2022 Teri Mattson, WtF is Going on in Latin America and the Caribbean. Podcast – WTF is Going on in Latin America & the Caribbean Anti-Imperialism, Colombia, Diplomatic Relations, Venezuela

Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro met in Venezuela’s capital Caracas on Tuesday, November 1, two months after formally re-establishing diplomatic relations and a month after resuming trade between the two neighboring countries. (3 months after the inauguration) This was the first time that Petro and Maduro met since the mending of bilateral relations in late August. It was a historic meeting as it marked the further strengthening of the diplomatic ties between Colombia and Venezuela, which got increasingly worse with the intensification of attacks against Venezuela by the US and the support this campaign received by then far-right Colombian president Iván Duque.

Colombia’s New President Reverses US Coup, Visits Venezuela

November 4, 2022 Ben Norton, Multipolarista. Resistance Report Colombia, Left Politics, US coup, Venezuela

Colombia’s first ever left-wing President Gustavo Petro made history on November 1 by visiting his neighbor Venezuela, officially normalizing relations after years of hostility. After a meeting with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the two leaders signed a joint declaration pledging to unify the countries and integrate Latin America, following the anti-imperialist model of Simón Bolívar. Petro said it is “suicidal” to divide the countries, “because we are the same people,” in “historically one single Bolivarian nation, reunited.” The presidents symbolically posed for photos in front of large portraits of Bolívar, the revolutionary general who led a successful armed uprising against Spanish colonialism and established many of the modern states of South America.

NATO In The Amazon: Petro Plays With Fire

October 27, 2022 Roger D. Harris, Popular Resistance. Educate! Amazon Rainforest, Colombia, Gustavo Petro, NATO, SouthCom

NATO recently expanded to Sweden and Finland, has been de facto incorporated in Ukraine, and may extend to Georgia. Now, NATO’s entry into the Amazon is in the works under the aegis of newly elected President Gustavo Petro of Colombia. NATO is a primary instrument of US imperial dominion. It is Washington’s praetorian guard projected on a global scale. Earlier this month, President Petro invited US and NATO military forces into the Amazon on the pretext that the imperial war machine could be repurposed as “police” aimed at protecting the environment instead of the old ruse of the war on drugs. He proposed deployment of US Black Hawk helicopters to put out fires. Previous to the environmental alibi, the pretext for militarization of the jungle was narcotics interdiction. Petro described his “conversation with NATO” as “strange,” but hastened to add “that’s where we are.”

The Unknown Story Of Colombia’s Military Intervention In Venezuela

October 8, 2022 Oliver Dodd, Morningstar Online. Educate! Colombia, Paramilitaries, US Imperialism, Venezuela

Last year in June I reported the targeted assassination of the communist Jesus Santrich in Venezuelan territory by mercenary commandos sent by the Colombian state. In addition to being a charismatic spokesman for the Farc during the 2012-2016 peace talks, Santrich developed a reputation for his Marxist writings, poetry, music, and ... cartoons. Near blind and forced to use a cane, Santrich emerged as one of the leaders of the reformed Farc-EP (Segunda Marquetalia — “Second Marquetalia Republic”) in 2019 after the Colombian state reneged on the 2016 peace agreement and stood indifferent in the face of the slaughter of peace signatories.

From Wounded Latin America, Demand To Put An End To The War On Drugs

September 30, 2022 Vijay Prashad, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. Educate! Colombia, Latin America, UN, War On Drugs

Each year, in the last weeks of September, the world’s leaders gather in New York City to speak at the podium of the United Nations General Assembly. The speeches can usually be forecasted well in advance, either tired articulations of values that do not get acted upon or belligerent voices that threaten war in an institution built to prevent war. However, every once in a while, a speech shines through, a voice emanates from the chamber and echoes around the world for its clarity and sincerity. This year, that voice belongs to Colombia’s recently inaugurated president, Gustavo Petro, whose brief remarks distilled with poetic precision the problems in our world and the cascading crises of social distress, the addiction to money and power, the climate catastrophe and environmental destruction.

At United Nations, Colombia Condemns ‘Addiction To Money And Oil’

September 26, 2022 Ben Norton, Multipolarista. Resistance Report Colombia, Gustavo Petro, Oil and Gas, United Nations, War On Drugs

Colombia’s first ever left-wing President Gustavo Petro delivered a historic speech at the United Nations declaring, “The war on drugs has failed.” Petro emphasized that drug addiction is a social problem, and cannot be solved with violence and militarization. Rather, he argued, it is a mere symptom of a much deeper problem: the capitalist system itself, with its “addiction to money and oil.” The Colombian leader warned that the infinite greed of capitalism is destroying the planet, threatening life on Earth. “The cause of the climate disaster is capital – the logic of dedicating ourselves to consume more and more, to produce more and more, and so that a small few can earn more and more [money],” Petro proclaimed. The “logic of increasing accumulation of capital” is ravaging the environment, he warned. “The increasing accumulation of capital is the increasing accumulation of death.”

Can A Deeply Unequal Nation Totally Reverse Course?

September 1, 2022 Sam Pizzigati, Inequality.org. Educate! Colombia, Gustavo Petro, Taxes, wealth inequality

The alarm bells are — sort of — ringing, Bloomberg reports, in Colombia’s most “fashionable neighborhoods of Bogotá and Medellin.” Colombia’s newly elected progressive president has just proposed a wealth tax, on his first day in office no less. In Latin America, the world’s most unequal region, an egalitarian move like that would normally have a nation’s most privileged enraged and frothing. And some of that frothing certainly is showing up since Gustavo Petro, Columbia’s first left president, proposed his new levy on grand fortunes. A top exec with Colombia’s largest financial conglomerate now even says he sees “a significant risk” the nation’s stock market “will practically disappear” under Petro’s reign.

The Sword Of Bolivar Is Wielded Again By The People Of Latin America

August 21, 2022 Daniel Kovalik, Covert Action Magazine. Educate! Bolivarian Process, Colombia, Gustavo Petro, Latin America

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. This was one of the most historic events in Latin America for at least a century. For the first time since the liberation of Colombia from Spain by Simón Bolívar, Colombia now had leaders who promised to radically transform Colombia, and with it, all of Latin America. I was fortunate enough to be present at the inauguration ceremony which was just as exciting as one could have hoped for. As I was told by Colombians while in Bogotá, this was the first time in memory that throngs of people came to Plaza Bolívar to celebrate the inauguration of a new President and Vice-President.

The First Steps In The Normalization Of Venezuela-Colombia Relations

August 20, 2022 Misión Verdad, Orinoco Tribune. Create! Colombia, Foreign Relations, Latin America, Venezuela

On June 24, the candidate of the Historic Pact of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, officially became president-elect of the country. Among the political decisions that Petro promised to implement is the official reestablishment of diplomatic ties with the constitutional government of Venezuela, a link that was broken when Colombia, under former President Iván Duque, recognized the fake government of Juan Guaidó, a plan devised by Washington, and helped organize an invasion attempt, disguised as a “humanitarian intervention,” through the Colombia-Venezuela border in 2019. Consequently, President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela announced the end of relations with Colombia. After a lapse of three years, the relationship between the two countries has taken a new direction. Let’s examine some aspects that are already being worked on for mutual benefit.

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