- Human Rights Defenders
The UN says that Petro’s government has failed to protect human rights defenders. A UN report has warned that the government of Gustavo Petro has failed to curb violence against human rights defenders in Colombia despite its initial commitments, noting that at least 410 social leaders were killed between 2022 and 2025, with a surge in killings during 2025. While acknowledging some state efforts, the UN highlighted persistent structural problems including widespread impunity, fewer than 7% of cases result in convictions, and weaknesses in protection mechanisms such as the overstretched National Protection Unit, with dozens of leaders killed even while under state protection.
- Conflict, Victims and Peace Talks
Colombia seeks arrest of rebel leaders over 2025 assassination of senator. Colombia’s attorney general has issued arrest warrants for seven senior members of the Segunda Marquetalia rebel group. Including prominent leaders Iván Márquez and Jhon 40, over their alleged role in the 2025 assassination of senator and presidential candidate Miguel Uribe. Who was shot during a campaign event in Bogotá in June 2025 in a politically motivated attack aimed at destabilising the country’s democracy. Investigators say the was carried out by an urban gang coordinated by a former rebel and financed with a large payment near the Venezuelan border, with several individuals already convicted for their involvement, while the accused leaders, believed to be in hiding, possibly in Venezuela.
An attack with explosives against an army convoy in Cúcuta left five soldiers injured. In Cúcuta, in the northeast department of Norte de Santander, a military convoy of the Colombian Army was struck on the night of 25 March by an explosive device. It was detonated as the troops passed along the Anillo Vial Occidental, destroying part of the road and injuring five soldiers, an attack that authorities have attributed to the ELN amid ongoing security tensions in the border region.
Colombia Seizes 5 Tons of Rare Earth Materials in Vichada. Colombian authorities seized nearly five tonnes of rare earth materials in the eastern department of Vichada during a joint operation by the navy and army on 22 March 2026. This has highlighted growing concerns over illegal extraction and trafficking of strategic minerals in remote border regions. The materials, considered critical for high-tech industries such as electronics and renewable energy, were reportedly being transported without proper documentation, suggesting links to illicit mining networks.
Map: Military Strikes Target Complex Criminal Landscape on Colombia-Ecuador Border. Military actions against organised crime in the border region, including joint operations involving Ecuadorian forces with U.S. support under initiatives such as Operation Southern Spear, are reshaping the dynamics of organised crime by targeting armed groups linked to drug trafficking and illicit economies that operate across borders. These strikes have concentrated on networks such as FARC dissident factions, Comandos de la Frontera, which traffic cocaine and exert control over border corridors, and have increased pressure on these groups’ logistics and territorial operations.
More than 1 million tourists unknowingly contribute to the extortion business in Santa Marta. More than 1 million tourists visiting Santa Marta are unwittingly contributing to the city’s extortion economy because illicit groups systematically extort businesses throughout the tourism supply chain and these costs are then passed on to visitors through higher prices. The extortion networks, linked to armed groups operating in and around the region, target a wide range of commercial activities, and authorities acknowledge that the practice has become deeply entrenched, undermining legitimate business, deterring investment and inflating the cost of travel.
- Business, Human Rights, Environment and Indigenous peoples
Petro listens to Piketty, Stiglitz and 200 experts: announces Colombia’s withdrawal from international investment arbitration. President Petro has announced that the country will withdraw from the international investment arbitration system after receiving a joint appeal from more than 200 economists and legal experts, including Joseph Stiglitz and Thomas Piketty, who argue that the mechanism unfairly favours multinational corporations over states. The system allows foreign investors to sue governments in private tribunals when public policies affect their profits, which critics say can hinder measures such as environmental regulation and the transition away from fossil fuels. Petro warned that Colombia could face liabilities of up to 52 trillion pesos under the current model and proposed replacing it with a more balanced system, potentially through a national or multilateral public tribunal.
How foreign investor lawsuits stymie environmental protection. Foreign investor lawsuits, filed through international arbitration systems that allow corporations to sue governments are increasingly obstructing environmental protection, particularly in the Global South. Under this system, known as investor–state dispute settlement (ISDS), companies can demand massive compensation if government policies such as banning mining, restricting fossil fuel projects or protecting ecosystems affect their expected profits, creating a “chilling effect” that discourages states from introducing stronger environmental regulations. By October 2025, at least 419 such cases had been filed globally, with claims in Latin America alone totalling $36.6bn, often targeting countries attempting to transition away from extractive industries.
Wind energy projects in La Guajira are not just about cables, but about what the territory means to the Wayuu people. Written by a Wayuu leader, they highlight tensions with companies such as AES Colombia, whose consultation processes including presenting incomplete information that failed to reflect the community’s wishes and needs. In response, Wayuu communities have sought to assert their own perspectives, emphasising relationships with the land that include spiritual and social dimensions.
From stigma to care: the community-based approach that saves lives in the fight against HIV in Colombia. Community-led initiatives in Colombia are transforming the response to HIV by shifting the focus from stigma to car. The Barranquilla-based organisation Red Somos provides rapid testing, medical guidance, emotional and legal support, particularly for vulnerable populations such as migrants and LGBTQ+ individuals. They have reached thousands through grassroots outreach since its founding, demonstrating the crucial role of community networks in overcoming barriers to healthcare.
- Women and Gender Based Violence
Brutal crime in Sincelejo | Grandson takes his grandmother’s life: aggressor inflicted knife wounds on the woman in her sixties. A 60-year-old woman was brutally killed in her home in Sincelejo by her 23-year-old grandson, who attacked her with a knife, before fleeing the scene. This is the second similar case in the city involving a grandson killing his grandmother.
This is the identity of the man who murdered his partner and her two stepdaughters in Bogotá: he accepted charges for the triple femicide. Cristian Camilo Valencia Hurtado has admitted responsibility for the triple feminicide of his partner, 42-year-old Deisy Granados, and her two daughters, aged 20 and 17. Whose bodies were discovered in their home in the Bosa district of Bogotá after relatives raised the alarm when they lost contact with them for several days. During a court hearing, he accepted the charges of aggravated feminicide, acknowledging the killings were committed with a bladed weapon. While prosecutors described the crime as occurring within a context of gender-based violence marked by control, jealousy and domination, authorities also revealed there had been prior complaints of domestic abuse. Valencia was found at the scene after attempting to take his own life by poisoning.
Colombia one step closer to legally banning female genital mutilation: key points of the bill. Colombia’s Congress is moving forward with legislation to prohibit female genital mutilation (FGM), a practice that still occurs in some Indigenous communities, particularly among the Emberá. The bill seeks not only to ban the practice through punitive measures but also to prevent, address and eradicate it through education.
Atlético Nacional suspends footballer Nicolás Rodríguez following a sexual violence allegation. Atlético Nacional has suspended 21-year-old winger Nicolás Rodríguez after a 19-year-old woman filed a criminal complaint accusing him of sexual assault, allegedly committed while she was in a state of reduced consciousness following a night out in Rionegro, Antioquia.
Caracol TV Confirms Departure of 2 Anchors Under Sexual Harassment Investigation. Two prominent news anchors at Caracol Televisión, Jorge Alfredo Vargas and Ricardo Orrego, have left the broadcaster following allegations of sexual harassment that triggered both internal proceedings and a broader criminal investigation.
- Civil Society and Protests
Vehicle fires and police intervention escalate violence during the mining strike in Bajo Cauca. Violence has intensified in Colombia’s Bajo Cauca region during an ongoing miners’ strike, with protests over the lack of progress in formalising mining activity escalating into serious public order disturbances, including road blockades, looting and clashes with security forces. Armed groups of protesters have burned lorries and motorcycles, attacked supermarkets and even obstructed ambulances, while authorities have intervened with police and military.
Colombia: Trapped in their own territory | NRC. The report by the Norwegian Refugee Council warns that Colombia’s armed conflict is increasingly trapping civilians in their own communities through “confinement”, in which non-state armed groups restrict people’s movement to control territory. Since January 2025, more than 170,000 people, many from Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, have been affected, often unable to leave their homes for weeks, access food or healthcare, or send children to school, while facing heightened risks of forced recruitment and gender-based violence. The crisis is particularly severe in western regions such as Cauca, Chocó and Nariño, and reflects a broader humanitarian emergency in which Colombia has one of the world’s largest internally displaced populations.
- International and Domestic Politics
Death toll in Colombian military plane crash rises to 69. A Colombian military C-130 Hercules transport plane carrying around 125–126 people, mostly soldiers, crashed shortly after take-off from Puerto Leguízamo in the southern Amazon region on 23 March 2026. It fell into dense jungle roughly 1–2 kilometres from the runway with onboard ammunition reportedly detonating on impact. Authorities said at least 69 people were killed and dozens more injured, while dozens of survivors were rescued and taken to hospital, and the cause of the crash remains under investigation, with officials ruling out an attack and instead examining factors such as aircraft weight, runway conditions and possible technical failure.
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro under investigation in US for drug ties. Petro is facing scrutiny after reports that US federal prosecutors in New York have opened preliminary investigations into alleged links between his 2022 presidential campaign and drug traffickers. Including whether he may have had meetings with criminal figures or received illicit funding. However, the investigations remain in early stages, and he is not confirmed as the main target. Petro has firmly denied all allegations.
Colombia Supreme Court sentences far-right senator to 23 years in prison for corruption. Colombia’s Supreme Court of Justice has sentenced far‑right senator Ciro Alejandro Ramírez, a member of the centre‑right Centro Democrático party, to 23 years in prison for his role in the high‑profile Las Marionetas corruption scandal. Finding him guilty of aggravated conspiracy, bribery and improper influence in public contracting linked to the direction of government contracts in Quindío and Tolima in exchange for kickbacks.
Colombia’s government says Petro and Trump called ahead of now-canceled Venezuela meeting. Colombia’s government says President Petro and President Donald Trump spoke by phone ahead of a planned meeting with Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez. The call focused on bilateral concerns including the situation on the Colombia–Venezuela border and broader regional issues, although the high‑level trip was later cancelled, potentially because of this call.