Hundreds of demobilized former members of the FARC rebel group marched in Colombia's capital Bogota on Sunday to demand more security, implementation of a 2016 peace deal, and an end to the killings of former combatants.
Colombia became the latest emerging market to end a series of interest rate cuts, joining peers from Brazil to South Africa as it recovers from the pandemic. After the decision, the central bank said that Governor Juan Jose Echavarria will retire early next year.
Colombia reached 1 million confirmed coronavirus cases on Saturday, becoming the second country in Latin America to report that number in less than a week. The nation of 50 million saw cases peak in August and has seen a decline since but still continues to register around 8,000 new infections a day.
Protesters filled a historic square in Colombia’s capital on Wednesday to demonstrate against the government’s handling of a wide range of issues including the economic fallout of the pandemic and implementation of the peace accord.
A Colombian judge on Saturday ordered an end to house arrest for former president Alvaro Uribe, who is under investigation for alleged witness tampering and fraud.
Thousands of indigenous people demonstrated in southwestern Colombia on Monday demanding an end to violence, on the day commemorating Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas. Dressed in green and red and carrying traditional sticks, the demonstrators converged on the city of Cali where they hope to meet President Ivan Duque.
Latin America has started to resume normal social and public life at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic still requires major control interventions, World Health Organization regional director Carissa Etienne warned.
The mayor of Bogota begged forgiveness on Sunday and called for reconciliation after protests in Colombia's capital the past week left 11 civilians dead and hundreds injured.
Colombia's defense minister apologized on Friday on behalf of the national police for an incident of police brutality that sparked two nights of protests that rocked parts of the capital Bogota and satellite city Soacha, leaving 11 dead and hundreds injured.
The number of confirmed coronavirus deaths in Latin America passed 300,000 on Wednesday, according to several independent tallies, with the virus showing no signs of abating in the world's worst-hit region.