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A massacre explored: suppressed by the military

March 16, 2010 06:48Updated May 30, 2010 13:25
BOGOTA, Colombia — The cover-up started the day seven members of a peace community were murdered in northern Colombia. The massacre was so grisly it drew international condemnation and brought about a temporary freeze on military aid from the United States. Four of the decapitated and butchered bodies strewn across the jungle floor on Feb. 21, 2005, were children. (Read about how the massacre unfolded.)

A massacre explored: murder in the jungle

March 16, 2010 06:34Updated May 30, 2010 13:25
BOGOTA, Colombia — The bodies of seven civilians were dumped in shallow graves and strewn by a riverbank in northern Colombia five years ago. Most had been disemboweled and sliced with a machete. Four were children.

What's Andy Warhol doing in rural Colombia?

March 10, 2010 07:54Updated May 30, 2010 13:22
JERICO, Colombia — With run-down schools and museums few and far between, rural Colombia can be a cultural wasteland. Beer and eight ball is about as high-brow as it gets. So what’s Andy Warhol doing out here? Thirteen of the late artist's silkscreens are on display in Jerico, a community of 12,000 people located in the Andes Mountains three hours by car from Medellin. It’s a long way from The Factory.

Chile quake: The view from Valdivia

Jimmy LangmanFebruary 28, 2010 10:16Updated May 30, 2010 13:22
VALDIVIA, Chile – One of the world’s six-largest earthquakes in recorded history has left hundreds dead and damaged buildings, roads, and bridges throughout central Chile. Chileans slowly are becoming aware of the breadth of the disaster, which President Michelle Bachelet called "a catastrophe of devastating consequences."

A fight to make salt the artisanal way

February 3, 2010 08:15Updated May 30, 2010 13:19
MANAURE, Colombia — Where South America juts like a finger into the Caribbean ocean, sheets of salt roll out into the sea, made bright white under a scorching sun. In the coastal town of Manaure, home to Colombia’s largest salt deposits, salt miners of the Wayuu indigenous group shuffle their flip-flops over a slush of salt, sand and seawater that sears the soles of their feet. They shovel the salt into 100-pound sacks that they sell to the company down the road.

Video: "100 Years of Solitude" in pictures

January 12, 2010 07:48Updated May 30, 2010 13:18
BOGOTA, Colombia — Artist Pedro Villalba Ospina was 14 years old when he was first introduced to “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” one of the best-known novels by Nobel prize-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It was the beginning of a long and passionate relationship. Since then, he has read the book 27 times. So captured by it, and transfixed with a desire to explore it further, Villalba embarked on a journey to illustrate a story that has long inspired filmmakers, writers and musicians.

"100 Years of Solitude" in pictures

January 21, 2010 22:42Updated May 30, 2010 13:18

FARC rebels kill Colombian governor

December 23, 2009 09:57
BOGOTA, Colombia — Under pressure from government troops, Marxist rebels killed a provincial governor Tuesday after kidnapping him in a pre-Christmas raid in southern Colombia. Colombian authorities said the rebels slit the throat of Luis Francisco Cuellar, the governor of southern Caqueta state, a traditional rebel stronghold. Cuellar turned 69 on the day he died. The Bogota daily El Tiempo reported that the guerrillas may have used a machete to kill him.

Matador: Colombia’s most popular political cartoonist

January 6, 2010 07:46Updated May 30, 2010 13:17
BOGOTA, Colombia — When political cartoonist Matador draws Alvaro Uribe, the pious, right-wing Colombian president comes across as a middle-aged version of Milhouse, Bart Simpson’s nerdy friend. Like the characters on "The Simpsons," Matador’s cartoon figures strike poses of bemused innocence as they get into mischief — which in Colombia often involves killing, kidnapping, stealing elections and engaging in acts of brazen political corruption. Matador’s outrage drives his art.

Guerrillas take to government

Tyler BridgesDecember 21, 2009 08:09Updated May 30, 2010 13:16
LIMA, Peru — Years after trying to shoot their way into power, dozens of former guerrillas in Latin America have found a better way to help chart their country's future — through the ballot box. A former member of the M-19 guerrillas in Colombia is a senator. Several one-time rebels in El Salvador are congressmen, and one was elected as the country's vice president in March.
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