Colombia Archives - Voice of the Cape

Colombia protests continue after government withdraws tax reform

Violent protests continue around Colombia as unions make more demands of the right-wing government of President Ivan Duque following his withdrawal of a proposed tax reform that sparked widespread public anger. The government said the tax reform aimed to stabilise a country economically ravished by the coronavirus pandemic, but the working and middle classes said the plan favoured the rich while placing more pressure on them. An array of new […]

4 May 2021

International News

Uncertainty for FARC peace deal as Ivan Duque wins in Colombia

Conservative Ivan Duque has won Colombia's presidential election, putting the landmark 2016 peace deal with the FARC at risk. Duque secured 54 percent on Sunday, more than 12 points ahead of his leftist rival, Gustavo Petro. He is first to be elected since outgoing President Juan Manuel Santos signed the peace accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), formally ending more than 50 years of conflict. "This is […]

18 June 2018

International News

Kidnapping mars UN Security Council visit to Colombia

An employee of the United Nations has been kidnapped by a dissident rebel faction in southern Colombia, marring a visit by UN Security Council ambassadors to show support for the South American nation's recent peace deal. President Juan Manuel Santos' administration said that the Colombian national was working on a crop substitution project in the southern state of Guaviare when he was taken captive late on Wednesday. Rodrigo Pardo, the […]

5 May 2017

International News

Rescuers, locals dig for Colombia flood victims as 254 die

Families and rescuers searched desperately on Sunday through mud-plastered rubble for victims of flooding and landslides in Colombia that have killed 254 people, injured hundreds and devastated entire neighborhoods. Several rivers burst their banks near the southwestern city of Mocoa in the early hours of Saturday, sending water, mud and debris crashing down streets and into houses as people slept. Volunteers and firefighters tended to 82 bodies downstream in the […]

3 April 2017

International News

Scores killed as landslides devastate Colombia’s Mocoa

At least 254 people have been killed and hundreds more are missing after torrential rains triggered severe flooding and mudslides in the city of Mocoa, in southwest Colombia, according to a statement released by the army. Heavy overnight rainfall caused several rivers to overflow their banks, sending mud and debris crashing onto houses as people slept and sweeping away vehicles and trees. Many of the victims did not have enough […]

2 April 2017

International News

Colombia’s congress approves revised deal with FARC

Colombia's Congress has approved a revised peace deal with the FARC rebel group, paving the way to end a conflict that has lasted more than 50 years. The lower house voted 130-0 on Wednesday to approve the text adopted a day earlier by the Senate. President Juan Manuel Santos said the vote provided "landmark backing" for a deal he personally pushed for. Santos, this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner, shepherded […]

1 December 2016

International News

Colombians take to streets to support FARC peace deal

Thousands of people have marched in cities across Colombia to demand a peace deal between the government and leftist rebels not be scuttled. Wednesday's demonstrations marked the second time in a week that Colombians took to the streets to support the accord signed last month with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and now hanging by a thread after a shock referendum defeat for the deal. "We have seen […]

13 October 2016

International News

Colombia to begin peace talks with ELN rebels

Colombian President, and freshly-crowned Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Juan Manuel Santos and the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel group are to start peace talks, officials have said. The negotiations with the 2,000-strong National Liberation Army (ELN) will start on October 27 in Ecuador's capital Quito, according to an agreement signed in Caracas by both sides under the auspices of Venezuela's government. "We are a special nation that grows despite adversities," […]

11 October 2016

Colombia

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