Right-wing candidate Ivan Duque and leftist Gustavo Petro will lead their respective coalitions in Colombia’s May presidential election after winning primaries on Sunday. Duque, a protégé of former President Alvaro Uribe and the standard bearer for the Democratic Center party, beat fellow candidates Marta Lucia Ramirez and Alejandro Ordonez for his coalition’s nomination. He got more than 3.9 million votes and 96% of the votes counted.
Venezuela's president, Nicolas Maduro, announced that he will attend the Summit of the Americas “at all costs” to bring “the truth of the country” at a press conference at the presidential palace in Caracas despite the Peruvian government reported that his presence would not be welcome in the Andean country.
Colombia and Brazil tightened border controls with Venezuela on Thursday as both nations grapple with a mounting influx of hundreds of thousands of desperate migrants fleeing a worsening economic crisis In a visit to the border region, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said he would impose stricter migratory controls, suspend new daily entry cards for Venezuelans and deploy 3,000 new security personnel along the frontier, including 2,120 more soldiers.
At least 8,000 Venezuelans cross the border between Colombia and Venezuela daily to the department of Arauca, southeast of Colombia. Although the migratory flow at this point does not compare with the thirty or forty thousand Venezuelans who cross the Simón Bolívar bridge between Santander and Táchira every day, in Arauca the majority of migrants arrive in conditions of extreme vulnerability.
Citibank has sold its Colombian consumer and small business operations to Banco Colpatria Multibanca Colpatria S.A, the Colombian subsidiary of leading Canadian financial institution Scotiabank. Citibank operations in Colombia include 500,000 customers, 47 branches, and 424 self-service access points in Colombia. The deal also includes “assumption by Banco Colpatria of Citibank’s workforce,” according to Scotiabank.
At least seven police officers were killed and 41 others wounded on Saturday when alleged drug traffickers detonated a bomb at a station in the Colombian city of Barranquilla. The attack comes as President Juan Manuel Santos seeks to end the armed conflict that has wracked Colombia for 50 years. Much of the violence has been linked to drug trafficking.
United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will travel to Austin, Texas, and then to Mexico City, Mexico; Bariloche and Buenos Aires, Argentina; Lima, Perú; Bogotá, Colombia; and Kingston, Jamaica on February 1-7. According to a release from the State Department, Secretary Tillerson will engage with regional partners to promote a safe, prosperous, energy secure, and democratic hemisphere.
When it comes to getting medical treatments, temporary work, migration for a short time, buying food or making more money, Cúcuta has been the better option, if not the perfect one, it is the most practical, for many Venezuelans.
The ousted mayor of Caracas pledged to spread his protest against Venezuela's socialist government across the world as he arrived in Spain on Saturday, a day after escaping from house arrest and slipping past Venezuelan security forces into Colombia.
Veteran Farc (Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces) leader Rodrigo Londono — known as ‘Timochenko’ — will run for the presidency of Colombia next year, with the backing of former Farc rebels, the group’s new political party announced. However, he and other ex-commanders will likely face trials for human rights crimes and it is unclear how they would serve in office if sentenced.