This month marks five years since I started the Colombia Briefing - a weekly news update I started during the pandemic! So, to celebrate the fifth birthday of my passion project, I’m doing 50% off on all paid subscriptions if you subscribe before the end of July.
I’m also taking the paywall down for the month, so you can get a feel for what I’m up to - and if you’re still not convinced, you can also get free trial and see how you go - unsubscribe any time!
🗞️ Colombia’s Foreign Secretary Laura Sarabia, formerly a close ally of President Gustavo Petro, has resigned from the government.
The decision was sparked by the administrative dispute over the contract for passport printing in Colombia, a long-running controversy around fair contracting in the renewal of a previous agreement.
Sarabia supported the extension of the contract with private company Thomas Greg & Sons, in the belief that the Colombian National Printing Office - a public entity - is not technologically ready to take on the work, as the President has demanded it does.
Sarabia has warned that Colombians could be left without passports, and said in her resignation letter that in recent days, decisions have been taken that she “cannot support."
President Gustavo Petro accepted her resignation with a short tweet, in which he wished her luck and wrote, "I hope Laura is a better woman today than she was when she met me."
🗞️ Meanwhile, former Foreign Secretary Álvaro Leyva is now under investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office, following the discovery of audios in which he can be heard seeking United States support to oust President Gustavo Petro.
In the audios, revealed by newspaper El País last week, Leyva can be heard proposing a national agreement involving illegal armed groups, along with international pressure, to remove Petro. He appeared to be seeking US government backing via congressmen Mario Díaz-Balart and Carlos Antonio Giménez.
The President had been aware of the audios for around a month, as had the Prosecutor’s office. Petro’s lawyers have asked for charges of sedition, undermining national integrity, and libel. The incident follows an open letter published earlier this year in which the 82-year-old conservative politician claimed that Petro has a substance abuse issue and is unable to fulfil his duties.
Vice President Francia Márquez, whom Leyva mentions in the audios, has also demanded an investigation, denying any involvement, though many on the left including Petro himself have demanded she testify as to her role.
30 Colombian congressmen sent a formal letter to the US House of Representatives Ethics Committee requesting investigation and sanctions against Díaz-Balart and Giménez for undue intervention into Colombia’s affairs.
Petro has made various comments about US complicity in a ‘coup’ in recent weeks, mentioning US Secretary of State Marco Rubio specifically. This Monday, it emerged that Petro sent private letters late last month to both US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio apologising for suggesting that the US government were involved.
Nonetheless, a crisis in relations has ensued: both the US and Colombia have recalled their respective envoys. Rubio recalled John McNamara, his interim ambassador in Colombia, "for urgent consultations following baseless and reprehensible statements from the highest levels of the Government of Colombia." Petro then recalled Ambassador Daniel García Peña.
Numerous local media have reported that the US then withdrew visas for government officials with guerrilla links, including the ministers for finance and labour, the High Commissioner for Peace, and the head of the Protection Unit. The foreign ministry, however, says they have not been notified of these visa withdrawals.
It is not clear whether the crisis was sparked by Petro’s comments on the audios, the petition from Colombian congressmen, or by Petro’s statements regarding ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ - a new migrant detention centre opened this week in the US, which Petro compared to Nazi concentration camps in a tweet.
In the midst of the diplomatic crisis, Trump has announced additional 10% tariffs for countries aligned with the so-called ‘Anti-American Policies’ of BRICS countries – a group of ten emerging economies founded by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Trump made the announcement in a post on Truth Social.
Due to its entry into the BRICS New Development Bank, made official just days ago, Colombia is at risk of being hit with this new tariff, on top of the 10% baseline tariffs established by the US earlier this year.
This announcement came just as the BRICS Summit opened in Rio de Janeiro this week. Petro cancelled his attendance at the last minute, and Ambassador Guillermo Rivera will represent Colombia.
🗞️ An arrest warrant has been issued for Carlos Ramón González, former director of the president’s office (DAPRE) and a member of the president’s inner circle - now wanted for corruption.
This is part of the Risk and Disaster Management Unit (UNGRD) scandal, in which bribes were allegedly given in exchange for support of the government legislative agenda. González, a fugitive from justice abroad for months now, is charged with bribery and embezzlement by appropriation in favour of third parties.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, González gave the order to sign contracts for water tankers for the department of La Guajira - contracts which were inflated in order to direct money to bribe former president of the Senate, Iván Name, and the former president of the House of Representatives, Andrés Calle. Both are now in prison.
The Attorney General's Office is also investigating former Minister of Finance Ricardo Bonilla and former Minister of the Interior Luis Fernando Velasco. Former presidential advisor Sandra Ortiz, accused of being the intermediary in the delivery of the money, is also in jail.
🗞️ The Supreme Court of Justice has opened an investigation into current President of the Senate Efraín Cepeda for allegedly manipulating the vote on the reform referendum - which the government narrowly lost in May.
The conservative senator has been the subject of numerous complaints for crimes against democratic participation, having allegedly demanded an arbitrary and early closure to the vote in order to affect its outcome.
🗞️ Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay remains in critical state following an assassination attempt last month. The 39-year-old politician was shot twice in the head and once in his left leg at a rally in a public park in Bogotá on the 7th June.
On Saturday, the alleged coordinator of the crime was arrested in Bogotá: Elder Arteaga Ramírez, alias ‘El Costeño,’ has been charged with five crimes including attempted homicide and use of minors for criminal activities, but has plead ‘not guilty’ to all charges. Uribe’s lawyer has announced a petition to have terrorism charges added.
According to the Ministry of Defence, Arteaga - now detained - had received one billion pesos to coordinate the attack. He is one of five people arrested over the attempted murder, including the minor, alias ‘Tianz’, who carried out the attack and was captured fleeing the scene.
Investigations continue into who ordered the attack and why, now reportedly focussed on Caquetá, the department in which one of the alleged perpetrators was captured.
🗞️ A new armed front has been announced by the FARC dissident group Estado Mayor Central (EMC). The ‘Andrés Patiño Front’ will have a presence in the south of the department of Cauca, in Colombia’s southwest.
According to a pamphlet published this week, the group will be fighting a war against the guerrilla group Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), whose civilian collaborators were threatened in the communiqué.
The ELN, meanwhile, carried out coordinated attacks in several parts of the country to mark the 61st anniversary of its foundation on the 4th July, including roadblocks, burning vehicles, and attacks on infrastructure near cities including Buenaventura and Cali.
🗞️ This week saw a serious escalation of violence in the department of Guaviare. Two explosives attacks – a motorcycle bomb and a drone - were carried out in less than 24 hours on the 4th July, injuring several civilians. Authorities have attributed the attacks to the EMC.
These attacks follow the discovery of a mass grave containing the remains of eight evangelical religious leaders in the town of Calamar.
The eight men had been missing for around three months, reportedly killed by the EMC having been accused of links with the ELN after arriving from Arauca, where the ELN has a strong presence.
The Ombudsman said that this is the ‘consummation’ of its ongoing warnings about growing territorial dispute in the department, particularly between the FARC dissident factions commanded by alias ‘Iván Mordisco’ (EMC) and those commanded by alias ‘Calarcá’ – known as Estado Mayor de Bloques y Frente (EMBF).
The terrorist attacks and discovery of the grave come in the wake of an armed lockdown declared by the EMC last month, restricting thousands of residents to their homes for five days.
A ‘march for peace’ was held in Calamar this week, with residents dressed in white to protest and mourn recent violence, calling for a comprehensive and holistic state presence in their region. A military response is, nonetheless, expected.
Also in Guaviare on Saturday, local journalist Gustavo Chica was also shot and wounded as men opened fire on him and his wife while the pair were leaving their home in San José de Guaviare. The attack follows months of threats relating to his work.
Both are conscious and in stable condition but the journalist will require surgery to remove bullets from his body, having been shot in the chest, neck, and shoulder. Armed group ‘Renacer ERPAC’ are being held responsible, with two arrests already made in relation to the crime.
🗞️ In better news for peace and security, the government has signed an agreement with FARC dissident group the Coordinadora Nacional Ejército Bolivariano (CNEB) for a voluntary crop substitution programme in Nariño.
The group have committed to the eradication of 7,500 hectares of coca in exchange for 8 billion pesos – a pilot plan for a more extensive project in the area.
Coca plants, the base material for cocaine, will be replaced with cacao, the base material for chocolate. Seeking to correct the errors of past attempts at crop substitution, the new deal includes support for rural infrastructure, access to markets, technical support, and community security.
🗞️ A new mental health law in Colombia guarantees a budget for psychological care. Now signed into law, new measures include better definitions and services for mental health, as well as integration of those services into medical coverage.
Patients will now be able to directly consult psychologists, rather than requiring referrals from general practitioners, and community mental health workers will be trained to provide ‘mental health first aid.’
Educational tools and campaigns will also be created in schools to teach students how to manage emotions and care for their mental health; the law establishes October as ‘mental health month’ in Colombia.
🗞️ In a milestone ruling, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has recognised the human right to a healthy climate and established that its protection implies concrete legal obligations for States.
In an advisory opinion requested by Chile and Colombia regarding the obligations of states in the face of the climate emergency, the court has set a precedent for strategic litigation which will also guide the rulings of local, national, and international courts.
The court laid out state obligations to integrate human rights into climate policies, increase transparency, oversee corporate due diligence and environmental impact assessments, and provide enhanced protection to vulnerable groups.
The obligation to protect climate refugees is also emphasised, including through humanitarian visas and protection from deportation.
Share this post