Bogotá, Colombia – A challenge to a public debate, accusations about football shirts used as political symbols, and increasingly sharp exchanges on social media — campaigning for Colombia’s run-off in its presidential election is already underway just a day after Abelardo de la Espriella emerged as the surprise first-round winner.

While Senator Iván Cepeda had been widely expected to come out on top and enter the second round in a stronger position, his camp was left disappointed after falling short of those expectations.

Although he still claimed nearly 41% of the tally, de la Espriella surpassed him by almost three points, coming out with 44%.

Analysts say the run off is wide open. An important factor is supporters of other candidates whose votes are up for grabs. But a decisive factor is also likely to be those who didn’t participate at all in the first round.

“Whoever manages to somehow win over the undecided voters who didn’t vote in the first round but will vote in the second, I think that’s already enough to be president,” political analyst Oscar Chala said.

With three weeks to go until the June 21 elections, the race is on to sweep up those votes, and the candidates haven’t wasted any time in trying to position themselves.

Shortly after the results, Cepeda’s camp alleged irregularities in the vote, although the candidate backtracked the next day, saying they were not significant.

He also criticised the wearing of Colombian football shirts as part of political campaigns, linking it to de la Espriella’s far right movement — and also challenged him to a public debate, something he had not previously participated in.

“Cepeda is now inviting and wanting to hold a debate when he had always avoided it. That is a sign of desperation,” Rubén Erazo, political consultant, told Latin America Reports.

Although de la Espriella accepted the debate — which will be held on Tuesday June 9 — he also called his rival a “coward” and accused his campaign of hiding behind Petro.

Despite the disappointing result for Cepeda, he gained roughly what polls had been predicting — even marginally higher. Yet analysts say he struggled to win over undecided and abstentionist voters and lacked a solid and coherent campaign.

“The failures of Cepeda’s campaign are that Cepeda is not himself the candidate. The candidate is the current president Petro,” political consultant Rubén Erazo said, referring to this election being more like a referendum on Petro’s legacy.

He said this incorporates “the good, the bad, and the ugly” of his presidency. While he expanded social programmes, other policies, such as opening ambitious negotiations with armed groups, were highly controversial. Those dissatisfied with what Petro stands for are likely to be against Cepeda.

Despite knockbacks, Erazo says this doesn’t mean it is game over for the senator and Petro ally.

“Cepeda could win as long as his team reorients his strategy, acknowledges mistakes, thinks calmly and does not focus solely on claiming fraud,” he said.

The race is still very much open — and analysts say anything could happen, and that a lot will depend on where they target their political energy.

“Cepeda is likely to move closer to the centre and Abelardo could become more radical. The strategy Abelardo will use to try to win is to radicalize his discourse because he knows that Iván Cepeda will start seeking centrist votes,” Chala said.

He believes Espriella will also target an abstentionist segment on the right, even further right than traditional right-wing establishment figures such as Paloma Valencia, who once polled above 20% but ultimately secured just under 7%.

This part of the electorate is conservative, often macho, and wants hardline security strategies and more investment in the country.

De la Espriella was the main candidate able to capitalize on this as well as anti-Petro sentiment, and is expected to continue drawing support from parts of Valencia’s former base.

“However, his discourse is very anti-establishment and he’s not seeking the support of political parties,” Chala explained.

Nevertheless, Paloma Valencia — and her mentor, former president Álvaro Uribe — have come out in support of de la Espriella. Her relevance is not yet completely diminished if she can convince those who supported her to shift to this camp.

Moreover, while Cepeda took a backseat in his own campaign and drew heavily on traditional strategies such as mass gatherings and marches, Espriella, as well as doing this, drew heavily on crafting his own image — calling himself “The Tiger”.

“Everything is exaggerated and trying to inspire: the planes, the Italian suits from when he was a lawyer, and even his image of advising controversial figures,” he said. “Even the beard, for example, is copied from Nayib Bukele. It’s the same style.”

De la Espriella is plainly anti-establishment and aligns himself with Nayib Bukele, Javier Milei and Donald Trump. That appeals to some of the electorate, and repels another part.

At this stage, both candidates are still very much in this race, with everything to play for.

Featured image description: Iván Cepeda (Left) and Abelardo de la Espriella (Right).

Featured image credit: Respective campaigns.

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Bogotá, Colombia – The Supreme Court of Guatemala has overturned 26 arrest warrants issued last year by the country’s Public Prosecutor’s Office, which targeted high-profile figures including Colombian Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo. 

In a decision made public on Monday, the country’s high court ruled that the prosecutor’s office did not have the authority to issue the warrants in June last year. 

The court order marks a setback for Guatemala’s Public Prosecutor’s Office, which rights groups have condemned as a rogue and politically-motivated body.

“[The Prosecutor’s Office] exceeded its legal powers by unlawfully issuing arrest warrants without having the legal authority to do so,” declared the Supreme Court in its ruling.

“The issuance of arrest warrants is a power reserved for trial judges… who are responsible for overseeing the investigation,” it continued.

In addition to targeting Camargo, the warrants issued last year sought the arrest of former Colombian Defense Minister and current Ambassador to the Holy See, Ivan Velasquez.

Both high-ranking Colombian officials were accused of obstruction of justice, corruption, and influence peddling during their tenure overseeing an investigation into bribes paid to Guatemalan officials by Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. 

Camargo and Velasquez helped lead the United Nations-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), which investigated the Odebrecht case, a sweeping corruption scandal in which the construction firm was found guilty of bribing officials in 10 Latin American countries.

But the warrants, spearheaded by Guatemalan public prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, were widely decried at the time. 

Guatemala’s own government condemned the move, writing, “these actions are carried out with a clear political objective, without grounding in the national and international legal system.”

“These are part of a series of actions by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Attorney General of the Republic and judges associated with corruption that have distorted the meaning of justice in Guatemala,” added the Guatemalan government at the time. 

For years, Guatemala has seen a power struggle between its Attorney General’s Office, led by Maria Consuelo Porras, and the government.

Consuelo Porras has been condemned by rights groups for her efforts to block anti-corruption efforts in the country, which have seen her sanctioned by 40 countries, including the United States.

Public Prosecutor Curruchiche has also been widely condemned for interfering in democratic processes, suspending then-presidential candidate Bernardo Arevalo’s party during elections in 2023; Arevalo went on to win.

Following the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning the warrants, Curruchiche said he would launch an appeal in the country’s Constitutional Court. 

Featured image description: Colombian Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo gives a speech.

Featured image credit: @FiscaliaCol via X

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On June 4, a national scandal erupted when star Colombian soccer player James Rodríguez apparently snubbed President Gustavo Petro’s daughter as she asked for a photo. 

The incident sparked debate online about political polarization ahead of run-off presidential elections and the need for unity. 

But in a turn of events, Rodríguez and Antonella Petro made up just days later, in a possible sign of soccer’s power to unify a divided nation. 

The incident happened as the Colombia team bid farewell to their nation, boarding a plane to head to compete in the World Cup, which begins this week.

In addition to the selfie snub, official photos showing the players with forlorn expressions on their faces as they posed with the president also caused a stir. 

Significant outrage ensued on social media, with some Colombian fans accusing certain players on the team of ‘betrayal’ of their underprivileged roots, and showing their conservative ideology by snubbing the left-wing president. A photo released of the players inside the plane attracted particular ire on X. Others, however, supported Rodríguez, viewing the incident as an effort to prevent Petro from appropriating the photo shoot for political gain. 

Following the incident, Petro, in a lengthy post on X, spoke to James Rodríguez directly, saying: “The political ideas you have don’t pull me away from the common goal that you win and be the best.”

“Because we want the national team to win, my message is this: use the individual brilliance that has brought you fame, just as you did when you were poor kids from the working-class neighborhood; go back to playing in the streets with homemade balls, and we’ll win.”

But the incident seemed to have settled down this weekend, with Antonella Petro, the president’s daughter, sharing James Rodríguez’ personal apology to her via Instagram. In the message, Rodríguez said he did not hear her ask for a photo, and that he would send her a shirt as an apology. 

Despite the resolution of the controversy, the event itself and the reactions to it have raised questions over political division in Colombia, and how it has permeated all facets of culture.

The incident comes amid a tense election battle in Colombia, with far-right outsider Abelardo de la Espriella winning 43.7% of the votes in the first round of elections, followed by leftist Iván Cepeda at 40.9%. A runoff will be held on June 21 to determine Colombia’s next president. 

During the election campaign, de la Espriella has stirred controversy by donning the national team’s jersey, such that a court temporarily banned him from using the shirt for political campaigning. Critics accuse de la Espriella of weaponizing a national symbol for political purposes, though others say that efforts to restrict the usage of the jersey will be difficult to enforce and represents a stifling of free expression. 

Speaking to Latin America Reports, Gabriel Romero, veteran Colombian sports journalist and author of Confesiones de un hincha, detailed how the incident was yet another scandal, but one that reveals just how much politicisation has affected all sectors of the country. 

“The incident is characteristic of our “Patria Boba” (foolish homeland). That way of looking at things in black and white. James’s attitude was not appropriate [but] the disproportionate reaction from both sides is a consequence of political polarization. A clash between the extreme right and the extreme left, which could have serious consequences if there is no moderation from the parties,” said Romero. 

For the journalist, the hoo-hah represents an opportunity for the government to “capitalize on the incident to favor Cepeda and once again show the president as a victim.” Romero also sees de la Espriella’s usage of the jersey as another example of opportunism: “Governments have not been aware of the influence of football on society. They only take advantage of it for their short-term interests.”

There are also signs that this incident has revealed something deeper about the intersection between politics and popular culture in Colombia. Romero pointed out historical precedents surrounding soccer, and how Thursday’s incident represents a difference in public sentiment. 

“Before, the national team used to unite. In the controversy of the “Yes” and “No” for peace (the 2016 referendum on a peace deal between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), in which the proposal was rejected), the national team of Pékerman was the balm. Now it is different. The team is no longer an antidote. Extreme polarization broke the barriers of football. It is terrifying that we debate more over a photo of James than over the serious problems that afflict us.”

Ultimately, Romero believes that more fleeting scandals will occur of both a political and sporting nature. However, he says that “what is clear is that never before had polarization touched the core of the National Team.” It remains to be seen if the upcoming World Cup will reconcile, or further divide, a deeply polarized country. 

Featured image description: President Gustavo Petro poses with Colombia’s national soccer team.

Featured image credit: @PetroGustavo via X.

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Medellín, Colombia – There were 35 massacres in Colombia in the first three months of 2026, making it the most violent quarter in a decade, according to the Institute of Peace and Development Studies (Indepaz).

The Colombian NGO’s figures revealed that 133 people had died in the massacres, which occurred across 34 municipalities in 17 departments.

The grim figures come as Colombia faces a surge in violence related to its long-running armed conflict, almost ten years after a historic peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group.

The massacres claimed the lives of 74 men, 16 women, and 17 children. 40 of the victims have not been identified. 

The first massacre of the year, in which three women were killed, was committed in Santander de Quilichao, Cauca, on January 3. The single most violent attack took place in El Retorno, Guaviare, where 26 people were killed on January 16. 

This makes this year’s first quarter the most violent in the last ten years, during which Indepaz has recorded the deaths of nearly 3,000 people in over 700 different massacres. 

On the back of the peace accords signed in November 2016 between Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC, 2017 was the least violent year, registering 33 massacres in total. 

However, following the election of Iván Duque in 2018, yearly records of massacres increased from 39 in the first year of his presidency to 96 in 2021.

Under the current Gustavo Petro administration, figures have remained at similar levels, oscillating between the highest point of 94 cases in 2023 and 76 cases in 2024. Petro’s policy of Paz Total (Total Peace) that has sought to counter violence by negotiating with armed groups has had mixed results. 

The period of 2021 to 2025 observed an average of 303 deaths annually, an increase on the average of 201 deaths each year in the preceding five year period.  Even the most violent periods of the last decade did not register as many quarterly cases as 2026 has witnessed so far. The first quarter of 2020 recorded 17 massacres, under half of this year’s equivalent figure. 

In the last decade, 1,657 men, 285 women, and at least 133 children have been killed. Valle del Cauca was the worst affected department with 62 massacres resulting in 215 deaths, followed by Cauca which saw 58 massacres and 200 deaths. 

The surge in violence has come at a crucial moment in Colombian politics with presidential elections set to take place on May 31. While Petro’s possible Historic Pact successor, Iván Cepeda, looks to continue the Paz total policy, other candidates have promised tougher military measures against armed groups.

Featured image credit: Policía Nacional de los colombianos via Flickr

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Just days remain until the first round of Colombia’s presidential election on May 31, and millions of citizens still haven’t decided which of the 12 candidates to vote for.

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Bogotá, Colombia – President Gustavo Petro rejected the results of first-round presidential elections on Sunday, alleging irregularities.

Hard-right populist Abelardo de la Espriella defied pollsters’ predictions to beat the candidate representing Petro’s leftist Historic Pact party, Iván Cepeda, although neither surpassed the 50% required to win outright.

“The so-called count being transmitted is not legally binding. Its data is not considered official. As president, I do not accept the results of the preliminary count,” wrote Petro on X shortly after the election was called.

In Colombia, the “pre-conteo”, or preliminary count, is based on officials tallying the ballot sheets and entering them into an online software. But the “escrutinio”, or scrutinized results, usually take several days to be announced and are ratified by judges.

According to the Registrar’s Office, which is responsible for overseeing the voting process, the pre-count is “for informational purposes only” and has “no legal standing.”

But de la Espriella received nearly 700,000 more votes than Cepeda, a gap which is very unlikely to be closed after the scrutiny.

Delivering a speech after the results were released, Cepeda said he would not address the elections until the scrutinized count came out.

“Only once the vote-counting committees have fully, clearly, and thoroughly clarified this matter will we comment on tonight’s results,” the senator told a crowd of supporters at the Hotel Tequendama in central Bogotá.

He also referred to historic efforts by Colombia’s traditional parties and institutions to repress the leftist movement embodied by the Historic Pact: “Our life has been a constant struggle.”

A crowd of Cepeda voters gathered nearby to watch the speech on a large screen, with some chanting the Spanish anti-fascist slogan “No Pasarán”. One pair held a sign reading “Fraud!”.

Petro has repeatedly warned that the elections may be stolen, part of a long-running dispute with Thomas Greg & Sons, a multinational company responsible for electoral logistics.

In 2022, the Historic Pact gained some 500,000 votes in legislative elections following the scrutiny.

Regardless of the final results of the election, Cepeda and de la Espriella are set to face off in a second round on June 21.

Featured image description: President Gustavo Petro at a cabinet meeting, October 22, 2025.

Featured image credit: @InfoPresidencia via X.

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Bogotá, Colombia – On April 20, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) – Colombia’s transitional justice mechanism – released a report on the violence suffered by animals in the context of the armed conflict. 

The JEP’s report, conducted in partnership with the University of Essex, found that an animal is killed or injured every 30 minutes due to the armed conflict.

Animal rights activists say the release represents a step forward in publicizing the often invisibilized violence inflicted upon animals in war.

The report was developed through the construction of a database using 237 national, regional, and local media outlets, and 600 X accounts belonging to social and environmental organizations, as well as State entities and multilateral organizations.

Based on the information collected, they made an individual categorization referring to domestic animals, and a collective one referring to species, that is, wild animals. In this context, 100,252 domestic animals faced violence and 44 species are at imminent risk of extinction as a result of the armed conflict.

Thirty-two percent of the recorded cases involving animals were directly linked to military actions, including armed confrontations, ambushes, and attacks. The impacts were not distributed evenly across the territory; there are regions where armed conflict, illegal economies, and environmental richness converge, intensifying the harm. For example, Antioquia is the department with the highest concentration of species threatened by the conflict.

“We realized that most cases involved incidents such as accidents with landmines, anti-personnel mines, ambushes against the public security forces, harassment of the public security forces, and armed confrontations. These were some of the situations in which animals were killed or injured. They were also affected by forced displacement,” Laura Ojeda, a researcher on the JEP’s Investigation and Prosecution Unit who contributed to the report, explained. 

Forced abandonment was one of the most documented forms of harm identified in the report, largely because it was closely tied to the victimization of caregivers within the dynamics of the conflict. 27% of the recorded cases — corresponding to approximately 900,000 animals — involved forced abandonment.

The report also identified nine ways in which animals were used throughout the armed conflict: as means of transportation; as devices to detonate explosive artifacts; as instruments to inflict pain and suffering – torture –; as sentinels for rapid alerts; as surveillance tools; in practices of bioterrorism involving zoonotic diseases; as propaganda tools; as amulets or part of esoteric rituals; and as a means to intimidate communities and extort payments from business owners and farmers.

Visibilizing animal suffering

The report comes as part of the JEP’s efforts to recognize the environment within its processes of justice, truth, and reparation. This release, the third in a series of three, is the first to focus on the specific forms of violence suffered by animals. 

“It is part of a strategy to recognize all forms of life that have been victims of the armed conflict in Colombia,” Ojeda told Latin America Reports.

For Senator Andrea Padilla of the Green Alliance (Alianza Verde) party, the report represents a major step forward for animal rights. 

She notes that harm to animals is usually addressed as a collateral issue, as damage to property under a framework of harm to human assets.

“Animals have always been excluded from any moral consideration, from any legal consideration, even from news coverage,” the senator told Latin America Reports.

The team behind the report faced the challenge of shifting the narrative away from the legal framework which refers to animals only as part of the natural environment.

Instead, it adopted a “differential” approach from natural sciences, in collaboration with La Enredadera & co, a scientific outreach collective.

For Luis Carlos Posso, anthropologist and member of the collective, the report represents an exception to the “unavoidable anthropocentrism permeating the law.”

Senator Padilla highlighted the animal rights implications:  “I believe it is only fair that sentient beings capable of emotions, affection, and social, moral, and emotional lives are also considered as affected by the conflict.”

Padilla added that understanding the impact of the conflict on animals deepens the appreciation of the human toll of violence.

“When we understand that there are bonds of affection there, family bonds that are abruptly broken by war, we can also see the conflict in a deeper way — that is, we can understand the deepest forms of harm being caused,” said the senator.

Animals as victims of the armed conflict

In addition to detailing the harms inflicted upon animals, the report proposes various reparative measures. These include habitat restoration, veterinary care in conflict zones, public veterinary care networks, the inclusion of animals in memory and truth processes, protection measures for at-risk species, and conservation initiatives.

However, there is still a long way to go before animals can be fully recognized as victims.

“Legally they are not things, but they are also not rights-holders. If they are not rights-holders, they cannot be recognized as victims,” explains Ojeda.

Colombian law recognizes animals as sentient beings, and laws such as the Ángel Law reflect significant progress in their rights. Currently, there is a bill advancing in congress that seeks to historically and legally recognize animals and ecosystems as victims of the internal armed conflict, prohibiting their use as instruments of war and ordering their essential reparation. This is Bill No. 012 of 2025, led by Senator Esmeralda Hernández of the Pacto Histórico party.

Senator Padilla explained that the success of the legal changes will depend on whoever is elected as the next president. 

“Undoubtedly, this report holds great value. It not only offers another perspective on the armed conflict, but also explicitly incorporates animals into the analysis of war, harm, and peace,” said Senator Padilla. She added that animals must be involved in reparations processes, insisting, “peace must include animals, or it will not be complete.”

This article originally appeared in The Bogotá Post and was re-published with permission.

Featured image description: Parrot in a tree.

Featured image credit: Piqsels.

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Few associate Gabriel García Márquez with the asphalt jungle of New York. Collective memory places the Nobel Prize-winner in the heat of Mexico, the hustle and bustle of Barranquilla or the elegance of Barcelona. But for Colombian graphic designer and author Iván Onatra, the Big Apple was a crucial — and at times, forgotten — stage in the scribe’s life. García Márquez’s time in the city that never sleeps takes on new life in Onatra’s bilingual design book Macondo York, in which he explores the writer’s love-hate relationship that lasted for six months, while he worked as a journalist for the Prensa Latina news agency.

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It took a while, but the endorsement that Colombia’s far-right presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella was most eagerly awaiting has finally arrived. U.S. President Donald Trump expressed his support for him on Tuesday via his social media platform, Truth. And he did so in the most effusive way possible: “Congratulations to Colombian presidential candidate El Tigre, Abelardo de la Espriella, a smart, strong, and tough leader, on his decisive victory in the first round of Colombia’s presidential election,” the Republican celebrated in his message.

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Abelardo de la Espriella surprised many with his first-round victory in Colombia with 44% of the vote. The leader in the polls had consistently been left-wing senator Iván Cepeda, with the far-right candidate appearing in second place. However, those polls showed Cepeda hovering around 40% of voter intention — and he received just that. They also reflected a significant rise for the far-right candidate in recent weeks, as well as a loss of appeal for traditional right-wing candidate Paloma Valencia. In those surveys the two of them together polled roughly between 35% and 40% of voting intention. In the end, De la Espriella reached 44% and Valencia managed only 6%.

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Bogotá, Colombia – On March 8, Colombians elected members of the Senate and House of Representatives, as well as choosing their preferred candidates in three presidential primaries for the left, right, and center coalitions. 

The elections, which coincided with International Women’s Day, saw a record number of female candidates partake as well as a woman, Paloma Valencia, winning the most votes in the primaries in a historic first.

But with women’s representation in Congress stagnating, analysts say there is still much progress to be had in the way of gender equality in Colombian politics. 

Following the March 8 elections, two women emerged as the favorite presidential candidates in their primary coalitions: Paloma Valencia, representative for the Centro Democrático (Democratic Center) party, won a landslide victory in the right-wing coalition, while ex-Bogotá mayor Claudia López took the lead in the center.

“We women have to work twice as hard so that people can actually understand that we are doing our job. Female leadership is normally interpreted as being ‘too bossy,’ and then, we are restricted to certain areas,” said Valencia during an interview with Latin America Reports.

Despite Valencia receiving more than 3 million votes, soaring past the other 15 candidates in the primaries, female representation in Congress still stopped short of expectations.

“Female leadership is recognized for its power to mobilize, collaborate, and build bridges; it tends to be a much more transformational type of leadership, oriented toward motivation, building consensus,” Nathalie Méndez, associate professor in government at Bogotá’s Universidad de los Andes, told Latin America Reports.

But the success of a single individual isn’t enough. For the first time in history, female candidacies reached 40.9% of the total lists registered for Congress, according to a report by the Interior Ministry. 

However, despite being the election with the highest female participation, this surge was not reflected in the results. For the 2026-2030 period, there were 32 women elected to the Senate (31.4%) and 53 women elected to the House of Representatives (28.96%). This marks a total of 85 women out of 286 seats, representing only 29.7% of the total Congress.

Underscoring the lack of material advances in representation is the fact that  the exact same number of women were elected to Congress in the 2022 elections. 

“Women don’t receive the same resources as men, nor are they placed in positions with real chances to win the elections. Consequently, the rise of female candidates remains nothing more than a figure on paper,” explained Méndez.

Colombian society is also deeply conservative, creating a cultural environment where patriarchy persists and invalidates women in all spheres.

“What we see in Colombia is that a dual-type barrier persists, which I call institutional and cultural,” said Méndez. 

These barriers are especially pronounced in certain provinces, such as Caldas and Quindío, where not a single woman represents their communities in the House of Representatives.

“In local politics, financing is tied to political machineries and regional elites that are still deeply entrenched in male leadership. Breaking this panorama remains very difficult for women,” claimed Méndez. 

In addition, some party lists were closed, meaning people vote for a party logo rather than a specific person. With this, some voters are focused primarily on the party’s brand and could be unaware of the specific women’s names on the list, potentially making female candidates more invisible.

“Women are required, for example, to demonstrate much more experience, to hold more degrees, and even after proving they are just as good as men, cultural prejudices continue to surface,” Méndez declared. 

Yet the most-voted candidate for the entire Congress was Nadia Blel. The Conservative Party leader secured a massive victory, winning over 178,000 votes and becoming the highest individual vote-getter in the 2026 elections. Her success on March 8 proves that while progress for women overall appears to be blocked, individual female leaders are winning their own battles and shattering expectations at the polls.

“What this represents is that there are women who have managed to break the glass ceiling through their own trajectories or strong political legacies, but that is not enough to change the Colombian political culture,” added the researcher.

These elections showed that having names on a ballot is not enough; the real victory will come when every region in Colombia allows women to occupy political spaces on par with men.

Featured image description: International Women’s Day march in Colombia, 2024

Featured image credit: Wikimedia Commons

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