colombia
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The multi-billion dollar US-backed “Plan Colombia” initiative that began in the late 1990s and continued in various forms throughout the 2000s has been cited by a number of officials and commentators recently as an example of a counter-insurgency/anti-narcotics operation that has achieved significant progress in dismantling criminal and paramilitary groups operating within that country. Dan Restrepo,
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When Colombians elected President Juan Manuel Santos to a second term on 15 June 2014, many attributed his victory not to the voters who supported him, but to those who opposed his rival, Oscár Iván Zuluaga. In fact, Santos lost the first round of the election process to Zuluaga on 25 May 2014. Surveys indicated
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On June 15th, Colombians went to the polls to choose their next president. Former Finance Minister Óscar Iván Zuluaga had pulled off an upset win in the first round of elections on May 25, besting the incumbent President Juan Manuel Santos by a margin of 29.3 to 25.6%. After the defeat, Santos went on the offensive, attempting rouse the supporters around
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Colombia has been at war for over 50 years. The internal armed conflict between the government and the Marxist guerrilla group known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC after their Spanish acronym, originated in the aftermath of a bloody period of political violence during the 1950s known as “La Violencia,” or “The
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Buenaventura, Colombia has been racked by violence and crime for years. The port city is strategically important for drug traffickers, and a recent turf war between rival gangs has contributed to the bloodshed. Last month, a “shock plan” was proposed to bring new development projects to the area. This was accompanied by a “militarization” of the city, with the
Mike LaSusa 