🗞️ The government's new tax reform has been defeated in Congress. On Wednesday, Colombian lawmakers rejected the bill which aimed to raise around 10 trillion pesos and bridge the deficit for the 2025 budget.
Opposition parties objected to the bill due to projected effects on the pockets of Colombians, with taxes raised on the middle class. The collapse of the bill is a major defeat for the government, which will now be forced to reduce the national budget for next year.
President Gustavo Petro responded with a long speech, announcing the end of the government’s relationship with economic committees in Congress and saying, "Curse the parliamentarian who destroys the prosperity of his own people."
🗞️ Congress did, however, successfully pass a new law on noise this week. The bill harmonises 17 national regulations in order to crack down on noise pollution - one of the problems that most concerns Colombians, according to recent polls: 70% of respondents to a poll by the Ministry of the Interior reported having conflicts with neighbours over noise levels.
Fines will be doubled for disturbing the ‘tranquillity’ of a neighbourhood, and immediate suspension can be imposed on activities which generate noise, which includes noise from cafes and bars as well as noise emissions from vehicles.
The new law obliges the Ministry of Environment to review current laws and propose local action plans within the next 18 months, as well as planning for a monitoring system which could map noise in real time. Noise is considered not only an issue of wellbeing and social relations, but also of protecting urban ecosystems.
For more on the importance of noise in ecology, check out my podcast about Colombia’s bioacoustics - along with some of the strangest and most noteworthy sounds from the Humboldt Soundbank - exploring what they tell us about Colombia’s environments and those who inhabit them.
🗞️ The Agrarian Jurisdiction bill also progressed last week, creating specialised agrarian courts and judges with the aim of bringing justice to Colombia’s countryside.
The bill is expected to pass into law this week, with majorities in favour in both chambers of Congress. The idea of the new courts will be to bring institutions to remote territories, resolving historical conflicts over land ownership, and were among the terms of the 2016 Peace Accords with the FARC guerrilla.
🗞️ The government has set extended sessions for Congress this week, running until Thursday to allow extra time for debate on their flagship healthcare reform. The sessions will run until this Thursday in the hopes of getting the bill approved in the House of Representatives – the lower chamber of Congress.
🗞️ Another proposal advancing through Congress is calling on President Gustavo Petro not to attend January’s inauguration of Nicolás Maduro as President of Venezuela, following controversial and allegedly rigged elections in July, followed by a violent political crackdown by Maduro’s state security forces.
Petro responded to the initiative saying that it is not a matter for Congress to decide, and that he will make the decision in due time. He has neither recognised Maduro’s victory in the polls, nor that of opposition candidate Edmundo González, who is now living in exile.
🗞️ The Colombian government has spoken out about the Paris auction of a Colombian archaeological artefact known as the Gold Calima Diadem, saying that the sale ‘weakens the heritage, identity and history of our peoples.’ The piece dates from the Yocoto period – between 200BC and 1200 AD.
Last Thursday, the artefact was sold for €24,000 by Sotheby’s in France - around half what the buyer expected to make from the sale.
The Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (Icanh) issued a statement saying the practice of privately selling off heritage encourages looting, trafficking, and laundering of cultural property - all activities regularly linked to transnational organised crime networks. Icanh estimates that around 99% of Colombian artefacts currently outside the country left Colombia illegally.
In other archaeological news, the Colombian government is reasserting its claim to the Quimbaya treasure: 122 pre-Columbian gold pieces currently on display in a museum in Madrid, following the Spanish government’s failure to respond to a formal request sent by the Foreign Minister earlier this year.
Spain says that because the collection was not looted but given to the Queen of Spain by Colombia’s President in 1893 as a gift, their title is legitimate. Colombia argues that because the gift was given without the authorisation of Congress, that title is void.
I spoke to the experts on archaeological justice for Colombia earlier this year: check out this interview with the activists trying to decipher the ancient statues of San Agustín - and fighting to bring home the artefacts plundered during the 20th century
🗞️ The government has asked Meta to block the social media accounts of numerous Colombian influencers, including Deneydy Barrera (known as ‘Epa Colombia’) and Yeferson Cossio, accusing them of illegally profiting from gambling businesses.
Gambling regulator Coljuegos has accused around 30 influencers of running illegal raffles and committing tax evasion. A recent post by Cossio showed him giving a woman an apartment in Medellín, the sixth home he has given away in a raffle.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook as well as Instagram and WhatsApp, has yet to act or issue a response.
For more on social media corporations and how they affect security, human rights, and the rule of law, give this podcast a listen: ‘Taming the Titans of Big Tech.’
🗞️ Dengue fever has broken historical records with 13,000,000 cases in 2024, the largest epidemic since cases began to be registered in the 1980s.
Around 8,000 people have died of dengue fever in Latin America this year, according to the Pan American Health Organisation – three times as many as last year. Climate change and poor waste management are being blamed for the uncontrolled spread of the mosquitos which carry the disease. Brazil alone has registered nearly 6,000 deaths.
Deaths in Colombia from the disease doubled this year as compared to 2023, but remain comparatively low for the region at 200 - though the number of infections tripled to 300,000.
🗞️ US President-elect Donald Trump has named his new US Ambassador to Colombia. Daniel Newlin will take up the post as of next year, pending Senate confirmation.
Trump cited Newlin’s three decades of experience as a police detective in Florida, ‘removing violent criminals from the streets.’ Newlin was also a lawyer, litigating on behalf of accident victims, but has no diplomatic experience to date. He is reportedly close to Marco Rubio, Trump’s nominated Secretary of State.
🗞️ Meanwhile, controversy over Petro’s appointment of Daniel Mendoza as Colombian’s Ambassador to Thailand. Mendoza, a lawyer and writer, has no diplomatic experience and faces a wave of accusations of sexism.
Criticisms stemmed from comments Mendoza had posted on X, formerly Twitter, which Mendoza claimed were quotes from characters in his 2013 novel and not his own views.
However, several high-ranking officials, including Human Rights Ombudsman Iris Marín and Vice President Francia Márquez, spoke out against the appointment, saying the posts condoned sexual violence against women and girls.
Mendoza rose to fame due to his YouTube documentary ‘Matarife’ which accused former-President Álvaro Uribe of various crimes, including war crimes and links to paramilitaries. The documentary led to several legal cases regarding allegations of defamation and disinformation by Mendoza.
Though Thailand approved the appointment and Petro continued to defend him, Mendoza was ultimately obliged to turn down the role.
Petro faces numerous other allegations of gender-based violence among his appointees and allies, including Diego Cancino, Armando Benedetti, and Hollman Morris.
And beyond the corridors of power, the year also marks a new record for femicide cases in Colombia; the trafficking of women has also increased by a quarter since last year, with 330 cases. These figures were published last week by the Ombudsman's Office, who also pointed out that the crisis is compounded by the under-representation of women in policymaking: of 1,048 mayoralties in Colombia, only 146 are occupied by women and, of the 32 governorships, women hold only six.
🗞️ A Colombian delicacy has been named the best dish in the world by Taste Atlas. ‘Lechona’ is a traditional recipe from Tolima for suckling pig stuffed with marinaded meat, onions, and yellow peas, which takes around 12 hours to prepare. The dish scored 4.78 of a possible 5 points, beating more than 11,000 other foods.
Neapolitan Pizza came in second place and Brazil’s picanha – a rump or sirloin cut of beef - came in third. Tolima, a department in the Andean centre-west of Colombia, has its own day of celebration for lechona on the 29th June every year.
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