Colombia

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In Colombia Election, Two Historic Firsts

Gustavo Petro is first leftist president, and Francia Marquez is first Black female VP

(Newser) - Colombia will be governed by a leftist president for the first time after former rebel Gustavo Petro narrowly defeated a real estate millionaire in a runoff election that underscored people’s disgust with the country’s traditional politicians. Petro’s third attempt to win the presidency earned him 50.48%...

Supermarkets Find $83M Worth of Cocaine in Banana Shipments
Oops: $83M Worth of Cocaine
Sent to Supermarkets
in case you missed it
Jun 19, 2022 7:05 AM CDT

Oops: $83M Worth of Cocaine Sent to Supermarkets

And in Colombia, cocaine disguised as potatoes

(Newser) - Supermarkets in the Czech Republic got a little more than they bargained for in their banana shipments last week: $83 million worth of cocaine. Police were alerted after grocery workers started discovering blocks of pressed cocaine in with the fruit; ultimately, 1,851 pounds were found, Newsweek reports. The crates...

Colombia Shares New Pics of 'Holy Grail' Shipwreck

The navy also revealed the discovery of other shipwrecks in the vicinity

(Newser) - The wreck of the San José galleon was discovered in 2015 off the coast of Cartagena, and it’s known as the “Holy Grail” of shipwrecks because of the enormous treasure it was carrying when it went down in 1708. This week, Colombian President Iván Duque announced that...

Anti-Mafia Prosecutor Shot Dead on Honeymoon

Paraguayan prosecutor Marcelo Pecci was killed in Colombia hours after pregnancy announcement

(Newser) - A Paraguayan prosecutor known for fighting against organized crime was shot dead Tuesday while vacationing in Colombia on his honeymoon, hours after his wife posted a pregnancy announcement. "The best wedding gift ... the approaching life that is a testimony to the sweetest love," read the caption of the...

Cardinal's 'Bombshell' Reveal Involves Pope, a Nun, and $1M

Angelo Becciu testifies that Francis OK'd paying that to free kidnapped Sister Gloria Cecilia Narvaez

(Newser) - Pope Francis authorized spending up to around $1 million to free a Colombian nun kidnapped by al-Qaeda-linked militants in Mali, a cardinal testified Thursday, revealing previously secret papal approval to hire a British security firm to find the nun and secure her freedom. Cardinal Angelo Becciu's bombshell testimony could...

World's 'Most Dangerous Drug Trafficker' Brought to US

Dairo Antonio Usuga, aka Otoniel, extradited from Colombia

(Newser) - Colombia has extradited the alleged head of the feared Gulf Clan, who had been the country's most wanted drug lord before his capture, to the US, where he faces indictments in three federal courts. Colombian President Iván Duque said Dairo Antonio Úsuga David is "comparable only...

Awful-Smelling Foam Is Invading This City

Toxic foam from polluted river has become the bane of Mosquera, a suburb of Bogota, Colombia

(Newser) - Playing in foam is usually fun—think bubble baths when you were a kid. But in the streets of one suburb of Bogota, Colombia, residents flee toxic clouds of the stuff wafting over from a nearby polluted river, bringing an unpleasant odor and suspected to be the cause of a...

Shark Kills Tourist in Caribbean Snorkeling Hot Spot

Italy's Antonio Roseto Degli Abruzzi was swimming off the coast of Colombia's island of San Andres

(Newser) - Colombia reported zero shark attacks off its coast in 2021, but that luck didn't extend very far into 2022. CBS News reports that an Italian tourist, identified by local media as 56-year-old Antonio Roseto Degli Abruzzi, was swimming Friday in the Caribbean, near a cliff off the island of...

4th Latin American Country Decriminalizes Abortion

Colombia's top court lifts restrictions

(Newser) - Colombia's Constitutional Court issued an order Monday decriminalizing abortion, making the country fourth in Latin America to do so. Under the ruling, abortions will be allowed up to 24 weeks of pregnancy in Colombia, a widely Roman Catholic country, the AP reports. The decision was announced in a press...

&#39;Holy Grail&#39; of Shipwrecks Is Caked in Gold and Controversy
'Holy Grail' of Shipwrecks Is
Caked in Gold and Controversy
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Feb 19, 2022 4:30 PM CST

'Holy Grail' of Shipwrecks Is Caked in Gold and Controversy

Colombia moves toward excavation of the San Jose despite disputed claim of ownership

(Newser) - Colombia's government is taking steps to recover the so-called "holy grail" of Spanish colonial shipwrecks—thought to hold up to $20 billion worth of gold, silver, and precious stones—from its waters and at the same time taking heat from others with claims to the centuries-old treasure. As...

Colombia Woman Wins Right To Die After Historic Fight

Martha Sepúlveda, who was battling ALS, has died

(Newser) - Update: A Colombia woman who, for months, was fighting for her right to end her own life, has died by euthanasia. Per the Washington Post , 51-year-old Martha Sepúlveda, who suffered from ALS, won her high-profile battle to die “according to her idea of autonomy and dignity,” per...

Colombia Nabs Feared Drug Kingpin
Colombia Nabs Feared
Drug Kingpin
Oct 24, 2021 9:30 AM CDT

Colombia Nabs Feared Drug Kingpin

Dairo Antonio Úsuga leads the violent Clan del Golfo

(Newser) - The most wanted drug trafficker in Colombia has been arrested. Per the New York Times , Dairo Antonio Úsuga, popularly known as Otoniel, was nabbed during a military operation in the remote mountains of Colombia's Uraba region. The 50-year-old was alleged to be the leader of the country's...

Nation Accepts Responsibility for Journalist's Gang Rape

International court finds Colombia tolerated, if not consented, to 2000 attack on Jineth Bedoya

(Newser) - Colombian journalist Jineth Bedoya was kidnapped at gunpoint outside a prison in Bogota, where she'd expected to interview an imprisoned paramilitary leader in May 2000. It was the start of 16 hours of torture that would include a gang-rape, reports CBS News . "All I know is that I...

Escobar Had 4 Hippos. Dozens Now Threaten Colombia

Wildlife officials are now sterilizing the invasive species, whose population has exploded

(Newser) - Play a word association game using "Pablo Escobar" to start, and you'll likely hear such terms as "drug lord," "cocaine," and "murderer." "Hippos" may also come up if you're playing with anyone from Colombia, where the animals have surged in...

Havana Syndrome Cases Hit Ahead of Blinken's Visit

Ailments surface in Colombia

(Newser) - US officials are investigating suspected cases of Havana syndrome at the US embassy in Colombia, where Secretary of State Antony Blinken is to travel next week, days after similar reports surfaced at the US embassy in Germany. Emails from US Ambassador to Colombia Philip Goldberg describe a number of "...

Authorities Cancel Woman's Planned Euthanasia

Martha Sepúlveda was ready to say goodbye today, but health authorities reversed their decision

(Newser) - The Colombian woman who had won the right to die by euthanasia went to bed Friday night ready to face her last day on Earth. But a call from her lawyers woke her and changed everything. Martha Sepúlveda has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s...

She Doesn't Have a Terminal Illness. She'll Die on Sunday

Martha Sepulveda to die by euthanasia in Colombia, which in July loosened its right-to-die rules

(Newser) - In late 2018, Martha Sepulveda was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the progressive neurological condition also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. On Sunday, the 51-year-old Colombian mother and devout Catholic will die by legally permitted euthanasia—the first in her nation to be allowed to do so despite not...

Colombia's President Flies Into Drug Hotspot, and Bullets Fly

President Ivan Duque was visiting region where coca crop flourishes for cocaine production

(Newser) - Colombia's president flew by helicopter to a region of his country crucial to the drug trade to give a talk with a high-minded title: “Peace with Legality, the Sustainable Catatumbo chapter.” The presidential helicopter of Ivan Duque now has bullet holes as a result, reports the AP...

It Killed the Dinosaurs, but Then It Gave Birth to Something Else

You can thank the Chicxulub impact for our modern rainforests: study

(Newser) - We owe a lot to the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. For one thing, it gave us the lush tropical rainforests that help keep our planet healthy. That's according to a first-of-its-kind study published Friday in Science that looks at the effects of the...

'Guerrillas' Try to Sway Election, Bird Blows It for Them

Attempt to influence Ecuador polls with fake 'guerrilla' vid fails after bird guide hears bird call

(Newser) - Nothing gets past an eagle-eyed, carefully listening ornithologist—not even a propaganda video meant to sway an election. Manuel Sanchez, a bird-watching guide based in Ecuador, was watching just such a video shared on social media, supposedly showing three armed left-wing men from Colombia's ELN guerrilla force deep in...

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