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.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos ordered the army on Thursday to observe a definitive ceasefire with the FARC rebels after the two sides reached a deal to end their half-century conflict
Wounded combatant handed over to International Red Cross, Cuban and Norwegian dignataries
Right-wing opposition candidate Oscar Ivan Zuluaga won most votes in Colombia's presidential election on Sunday but fell short of a first-round victory and will face President Juan Manuel Santos in a close runoff on 15 June.
Accusations of bribes from drug traffickers, spying and email hacking have turned Colombia’s presidential election into an ugly slugfest that has further polarized a country trying to emerge from its violent past.
Colombia's government and FARC rebels announced on Friday an agreement to jointly combat illicit drug trade in the country as part of a six-point peace plan. The deal comes ahead of May 25 elections in the country and is an implicit admission of the guerrillas' links with the drug trade.
OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza participated on Friday in Colombia in a ceremony commemorating the International Day against Antipersonnel Mines, where he described the effort and commitment of OAS to eradicate the scourge and bring rehabilitation to survivors as a high priority.
Colombian voters showed tepid support for peace talks with FARC guerrillas on Sunday by giving the country's president Juan Manuel Santos a majority in Congress, but also electing his conservative rival, ex-president Alvaro Uribe, to the senate.
Colombians went to the polls on Sunday to elect a new Congress, in a vote seen as a referendum on peace talks with the FARC guerrillas and an anticipation for May's presidential election.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague was received on Sunday in Cartagena by Colombian Foreign minister María Angeles Holguín and on Monday is scheduled to meet with Juan Manuel Santos at the Palacio Nariño, seat of the Executive in Bogotá. Mr. Hague on Monday evening will be flying to Brazil.