President Gustavo Petro at the UN: A Damning Indictment of the US Empire and the United Nations

What follows is a transcription of the speech given by President of Colombia Gustavo Petro in General Debate of the 77th Session of the UN General Assembly on September 20, 2022. I come from one of the three most beautiful countries on earth. There is an explosion of life there. Thousands of multicolored species from…

Colombian U.S.-Backed Intelligence Operations Are Bad for Peace

W. T. WHITNEY JR. A Venezuelan couple use the Francisco De Paula Santander Bridge to cross between Urena, Venezuela, and Cucuta, Colombia, Aug. 6, 2022. | Matias Delacroix / AP Colombia’s new president Gustavo Petro wants peace. Colombia’s military, the largest in Latin America, except for that of Brazil, stands in the way. The military…

Colombian President’s Security Delegation Attacked

Peoples Dispatch The government of President Gustavo Petro is willing to negotiate peace agreements with all paramilitary groups to achieve total peace in Colombia. (Photo: Colombian Presidency/Twitter) President Gustavo Petro stated that the violence must end in the country and reiterated his government’s commitment to achieve total peace On Wednesday, August 24, a security delegation…

Colombia and the Mythical Creation of Cuba as “State Sponsor of Terrorism”

Gustavo A Maranges We recently published two articles called “Cuba and the Peace Talks between the ELN and the Colombian Government: New Opportunities vs. Old Obstacles,” in which we referred to Cuba’s commitment to peace in Colombia; something that former President Ivan Duque boycotted. At that time, we only had public information to justify our thesis…

Colombian Government Launches Initiative for Protection of Social Leaders

Peoples Dispatch On August 20, the government of President Gustavo Petro in Colombia launched the first Unified Command Post for Life (PMU), in the municipality of Caldono, in the Cauca department. (Photo: Alfonso Prada/Twitter) Interior Minister Alfonso Prada reported that the protection plan will cover the 65 municipalities hardest hit by violence in the country…

The Sword of Bolivar Is Wielded Again by the People of Latin America

Daniel Kovalik [Source: Photo courtesy of Dan Kovalik] 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…

Cuba and the Peace Talks between the ELN and the Colombian Government: New Opportunities vs. Old Obstacles (PART II)

Gustavo A Maranges Colombian Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva and Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Last week, it became public that the newly formed Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) will re-establish peace talks in the coming weeks. The statement was made by Foreign Affairs Minister Alvaro Leyva in Havana, the city where negotiations…

Colombia: Francia Márquez Announces Creation of Ministry of Equality

Resumen Latinoamericano The Vice President of Colombia, Francia Márquez, symbolically took office in her homeland, in the department of Cauca, where she announced that this week the creation of the Ministry of Equality, which she herself will lead, will be filed in Congress. The formation of this new portfolio will be made to “take on…

The US War on Drugs Isn’t What it Seems – and Colombia’s New President Wants to End it

Bradley Blankenship Gustavo Petro promises a major blow to US hegemony over Latin America Leftist Gustavo Petro was inaugurated as Colombia’s new president on August 7, ushering in what will likely be an unprecedented political swing for what is a perennially right-wing government. In his first address, Petro mentioned many important issues that face Colombia including…

Cuba to Host Peace Talks Between the ELN and the Colombian Government: New Opportunities vs. Old Obstacles

Gustavo A Maranges Last week in Havana, the Colombian government stated its willingness to resume peace talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN), having Cuba and Norway as the guarantors of the process. The announcement comes just four days after Gustavo Petro took office as President of Colombia. This is undoubtedly a sign of how…

The Nobodies Take Office in Colombia: An In-Depth Analysis

Alina Duarte Fleas dream of buying themselves a dog, and the nobodies dream of escaping poverty: that one magical day good luck will suddenly rain down on them–will rain down in buckets. But good luck doesn’t rain down yesterday, today, tomorrow, or ever. Good luck doesn’t even fall in a fine drizzle, no matter how hard…

Colombian Government Announces Official Resumption of Peace Talks with ELN

Michele de Mello The administration of Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez has vowed to prioritize peace and ameliorate the devastating setbacks the processes had under Ivan Duque. Cuba, Ecuador, Chile and Norway have been chosen to mediate the negotiations between Petro’s administration and the guerrilla group In the first press conference to local media after…

Colombia’s First Leftist President Will Bring Historic Change

Dan Kovalik Colombia is the latest Latin American country to turn from the right, and possibly stand up to Washington, with the inauguration of Gustavo Petro. It’s a historic day in Colombia, as the country inaugurates former guerrilla Gustavo Petro as its first leftist president, and Francia Marquez as its first vice president of African…

Colombia Witnesses One of the Worst Killing-Sprees of 2022

Tanya Wadhwa According to INDEPAZ, 59 massacres have been perpetrated and 110 social leaders and 31 ex-combatants of the FARC assassinated in 2022 so far. (Photo: Radio Nacional CO/Twitter) According to the Institute of Development and Peace Studies (INDEPAZ), 20 citizens were murdered in six massacres in the past 10 days. Five social leaders and…

Antonio García: Peace is Not Always Associated with Social Justice and the Welfare of Society

Peoples Dispatch The first commander of the National Liberation Army, Antonio García, spoke about the possibility for peace amid a time of historic transformation in Colombia. Colombia is undergoing a period of radical transformation. The country which for decades had been dominated by conservative rule, and subject to the demands and needs of the United…

“Dialogue Among Family,” says MST Leader on Meeting with Colombian Vice President Francia Márquez

Michele de Mello Francia Márquez met with leaders of Brazilian popular movements on July 26, in São Paulo – Photo: Vinícius Poço de Toledo Agrarian reform, agro-ecology, and integration were topics discussed between the MST and the vice-president-elect of Colombia The Landless Rural Workers’ Movement (MST) was one of the organizations that met with the…

Beltrán: “We are Walking Along Different Paths Towards a More Just Society”

María Fernanda Barreto Exclusive interview with Commander Pablo Beltrán, head of the ELN Peace Delegation, regarding possible dialogues with the new Colombian government. The presidential triumph of the Historical Pact in the last elections in Colombia, has awakened an unprecedented hope in the majority of the Colombian population and in general, in all the countries…

How Black Colombia Helped to Bring the Left to Power

Carlos Cruz Mosquera Young Black activists in Buenaventura Although mainstream media focuses on a figurehead, Colombia’s historical moment today is not just down to Gustavo Petro and his coalition’s efforts. Without taking from them what was an inspired campaign to win the electorate over with a principled programme, a decisive factor in the victory was…