U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has visited Colombia as part of a tour of three Latin American nations to discuss deportation, immigration and crime.

An annual United Nations conference on biodiversity that ran out of time last year will resume its work Tuesday in Rome with money at the top of the agenda.

Colombian president Gustavo Petro has ordered the state-run oil company Ecopetrol to cancel a joint venture with U.S.-based Occidental Petroleum that was expected to produce around 90,000 barrels of oil per day.

Colombian migrants deported from the United States are returning home on Colombian military flights following a diplomatic dispute between the two countries over the flights.

Visa appointments at the U.S. Embassy in Colombia have been canceled following a dispute between President Donald Trump and his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro over deportation flights that nearly turned into a costly trade war between both countries.

A member of the former “Tomaseros” gang accused of drugging and kidnapping robbery victims in the entertainment districts of Bogotá, Colombia, appeared in U.S. federal court in Miami.

The International Crisis Group is reporting that Colombia's government efforts to control deforestation in the Amazon are being hampered by the actions of left-wing dissidents who control the area.

Electoral authorities in Colombia have ruled in favor of investigating financial misconduct allegations against the 2022 campaign that got President Gustavo Petro elected.

Next year’s championship of the expanded Club World Cup will be played on July 13 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, site of the 2026 World Cup final.

Colombia has suspended peace talks with the National Liberation Army, or ELN, after blaming the rebel group for an attack that killed two soldiers and injured more than 20.

An attack on a military base in eastern Colombia killed two soldiers and injured at least 21, Colombia’s military says, as tensions escalate between Colombia’s government and one of the nation’s largest remaining rebel groups.

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan have arrived in Colombia, where they will participate in several events promoting mental health for young people and how to combat cyberbullying, one of the couple’s latest philanthropic causes.

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan will arrive in Colombia on Thursday.

Jeffersson “Harry Potter” Arango was a member of the Tomaseros, a former Colombian gang that drugged and kidnapped robbery victims in the entertainment districts of Bogotá— and was hunted down after they targeted the wrong men.

Colombia’s congress has voted to ban bullfights in the South American nation, delivering a serious blow to a centuries-old tradition that has inspired songs and novels but has become increasingly controversial in the countries where it is still practiced.

In an exclusive interview with Local 10 News Thursday, Anthony Salisbury, HSI Miami’s Special Agent in Charge, spoke about the ongoing initiatives aimed at preventing sexual predators from utilizing Miami as a gateway to exploit some of the world’s most vulnerable children overseas.

Experts say the arrest of a Miami pharmacist is bringing new attention to the prevalence of child sex tourism in Colombia.

A pharmacist from South Florida could be spending a long time behind bars after he allegedly paid to have sex with children between the ages of 10 and 12, the Department of Justice confirmed in a news release Tuesday.

Thousands of Colombians have taken to the streets in the latest rebuke of leftist President Gustavo Petro’s reform agenda.

A Colombian national was extradited from Chile to Miami where authorities say he will face charges related to the kidnapping and assault of two U.S. Army soldiers who were on temporary duty in Bogota.

A severe drought has pushed Colombia's capital to start rationing tap water.

The mayor of Colombia’s second-largest city is banning prostitution in two of the city’s most famous neighborhoods for six months, saying it's essential to prevent the sexual exploitation of children.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has threatened to break off diplomatic ties with Israel if the country doesn't comply with a U.N. Security Council resolution that calls for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has suspended a ceasefire with one of the handful of armed groups with which he hoped to negotiate peace accords.

Colombia’s government has issued a disaster declaration and requested help from the international community to combat raging wildfires affecting the South American country.

Colombia’s government has extended a cease-fire with the FARC-EMC rebel group that was set to expire this week, as both sides hold peace talks in Bogota that seek to reduce violence in rural parts of the country.

Thousands of protesters on cars and motorbikes have taken to the streets of Colombia’s main cities to reject recent hikes in gasoline prices that have drastically increased the price of fuel in the South American country.

A strong earthquake has shaken Colombia’s capital and other major cities.

Thousands of people are marching in Colombia to voice their frustration with President Gustavo Petro’s government and its attempts to make sweeping changes to the nation’s health and pension systems, and its labor laws.

The four Indigenous children who survived 40 days in the Amazon jungle after their plane crashed have shared limited but harrowing details of their ordeal with their family, including that their mother survived the crash for days before she died.

Four Indigenous children have survived an Amazon plane crash that killed three adults and then braved the jungle for 40 days before being found alive by Colombian soldiers, bringing a happy ending to a search-and-rescue saga that captivated a nation and forced the usually opposing military and Native people to work together.

Colombian rebel leader Pablo Beltran says peace talks between his National Liberation Army and the government have been put “on pause” due to remarks made last week by President Gustavo Petro.

President Joe Biden is hosting Colombian President Gustavo Petro at the White House for talks next week.

A 62-year-old woman has been convicted of discrimination and harassment on for making racist comments about Colombia’s first Black vice president during an antigovernment protest last year.

Rescue operations at a coal mine in central Colombia that collapsed earlier this week have ended and officials say the accident had left 21 workers dead.

A powerful explosion in a coal mine in central Colombia that affected four other mines linked by tunnels has killed at least 11 people and left others missing.

Honduras has become the second country in Central America to impose a state of exception suspending some constitutional rights to deal with street gangs.

The beginning of October means Nobel Prize season.

Colombia’s first leftist president has presented an ambitious tax plan that aims to raise up to $11 billion a year for anti-poverty programs.

Colombia’s first leftist president has been sworn into office, promising to fight inequality and bring peace to a country long haunted by bloody feuds between the government, drug traffickers and rebel groups.

Cocaine production in Colombia remained near record levels in 2021, according to estimates released by the White House, raising the stakes for bilateral cooperation between the United States and Colombia's next administration.

President-elect Gustavo Petro, who has vowed to lift up Colombia’s poor and disenfranchised, has won the support of an influential party of the establishment as he tries to build a majority coalition in Congress.

A group of former leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, say the guerrilla organization was responsible for war crimes, including the kidnapping of thousands of civilians for ransom and also holding politicians as hostages for several years in the hopes of exchanging them for imprisoned rebels.

Colombians can count on one thing: The country’s presidential politics will drastically change after Sunday’s runoff election.

Colombian presidential frontrunner Gustavo Petro pledged that he will not nationalize private property if he wins the nation’s presidency this year as critics in the South American country accuse the leftist candidate of wanting to make radical changes to the country’s free market economy.

Colombians have voted for a new congress and also cast ballots in presidential primaries to choose party candidates for the May presidential contest.

For most of Colombia’s history, the far left has been associated with the civil war and guerrilla groups. But now that that war is mostly over, the left-wing could be on the verge of an historic, political victory.

Colombia has become the latest country in Latin America to expand access to abortion, with the nation’s Constitutional Court voting to legalize the procedure until the 24th week of pregnancy.

Colombian police killed at least 11 people during protests that broke out in September of last year, following the death of a taxi driver who was beaten to death while in police custody, a report backed by the United Nations found.

At least 13 people were injured following an explosion at a police station near Colombia’s border with Venezuela, officials in the city of Cucuta said.

The Venezuelan government and the opposition came together for the fourth dialogue since 2012, in Mexico earlier this month. Norway mediated the discussions between the two countries, yet expectations among most Venezuelans remain low.

Milton Pinzón held up a sign during a protest Tuesday against Colombian President Iván Duque’s tax reform in Bogotá.

Colombian President Ivan Duque has announced reforms to the nation’s police forces that are meant to improve accountability and decrease human rights abuses, following weeks of protests in which officers were accused of killing at least two dozen demonstrators.

Three days of conflicts between Nicolas Maduro’s regime and gangs have led to 26 deaths in Venezuela, sparking crackdowns in the country.

Three members of Fuerza y Fé, a Venezuelan nonprofit organization, said they are hiking with undocumented migrants to help give others perspective about the ongoing diaspora.

Deadly protests against President Iván Duque’s policies continue in Colombia’s capital city of Bogotá, which is still reeling from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Despite the rising need for paramedics and doctors, city officials are concerned about attacks on ambulances.

Adolescentes indígenas empobrecidos que dejaron atrás a sus familias para obtener una educación universitaria en Bogotá, se han sumado a las protestas de reforma tributaria. Algunos de ellos decidieron marchar contra la brutalidad policial. Otros exigen una reforma sanitaria y un aumento del salario mínimo mensual de $285.

Impoverished indigenous teenagers who left their families behind to get a college education in Bogotá have joined the tax reform protests. Some of them decided to march against police brutality. Others are demanding health reform and an increase of the $285 monthly minimum wage.

Se registra una alta ocupación de Unidades de Cuidados Intensivos en el centro y oriente de Colombia, causados principalmente por las aglomeraciones presentadas durante las protestas contra el gobierno.

Leopoldo López, un activista prominente de la oposición venezolana, dijo el miércoles que la reciente oferta de negociación hecha por su movimiento al gobierno del presidente Nicolás Maduro fue motivada por la crisis humanitaria en el país y el prolongado estancamiento político.

Protesters marched against tax reform for eight days in Colombia’s biggest cities. The demonstrations turned deadly before the president promised to find other ways to address the economic crisis.

The ongoing nationwide protests in Colombia against proposed tax reform continued on Wednesday.

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic is hurting the most vulnerable in Venezuela and Colombia where the vaccination campaigns are progressing at a painfully slow pace and officials are implementing lockdown measures.

El embajador Jeffrey DeLaurentis, vicerepresentante de asuntos políticos especiales para la misión de Estados Unidos ante Naciones Unidas, dijo durante una reunión del Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU que a su país también le preocupan los asesinatos de excombatientes de las antiguas Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC).

BOGOTA, Colombia – A group of activists recently met to protest a xenophobic backlash that Venezuelans are facing in Bogotá, Colombia. The March 10 shooting in Bogotá happened after Caro and another police officer performed a traffic stop and a search. We need guarantees for Colombians.”Edmundo López, a Colombian lawyer and activist in Bogotá's Chapinero neighborhood, participated in the meeting against xenophobia. This wasn’t the first time anti-xenophobia activists were concerned about López’s statements about Venezuelans and crime in Bogotá. The U.N. refugee agency has reported Venezuelans have faced issues with xenophobia and discrimination in Colombia and Peru.

Hernández, 26, remembers fondly how hundreds of green-clad women celebrated in Argentina late last year after winning their fight to legalize abortion. AdThe OAS also reported the situation of healthcare for pregnant women, was likely boosting their migration to neighboring countries. Mónica Tamarones started the independent station, which has a YouTube channel, an Instagram page, and a community on Whatsapp. “This is another silent pandemic.”More facts about femicides in Latin AmericaAbout 4,555 women were victims in 15 Latin American countries and four Caribbean countries in 2019. In Latin America, the highest rates of femicide were in Honduras, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, and Bolivia.

JUST IN: Part of an airplane engine flew into a warehouse in Bogota, Colombia early Thursday morning. The Airbus A300 cargo plane was taking off, heading to Venezuela, when the incident happened. It returned to the Bogota airport safely. (📷: @AlejoSilva0) pic.twitter.com/WOCgUJJ5cU

BOGOTA, Colombia – Members of the Venezuelan opposition continued to send messages of gratitude on Tuesday to President Joe Biden for granting Temporary Protected Status to undocumented Venezuelans in the United States. Opposition leader Juan Guaidó released a statement in Spanish saying that the TPS reaffirms the U.S. is in favor of democracy in Venezuela and it sends a message to the international community. The protection of Venezuelan migrants in the U.S. follows a similar measure implemented by Colombia last month to receive legal status. Carlos Vecchio, Guaidó's envoy in Washington, D.C., said the Biden administration has recognized Guaidó as the interim president of Venezuela. https://t.co/udhKPOJuJf — Juan Guaidó (@jguaido) March 8, 2021MORE ON TPSThe designation of Venezuela for TPS and the 180-day registration period begins on Tuesday.

A Venezuelan-American family hasn’t been able to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Eve together for three Decembers now. Gabriel Villar recently celebrated his 11th birthday in Orlando with his grandmother and older brother. His parents, Maria and Asdrubal Villar, wished him well on a video call from Bogotá. AdEvery day, sometimes two times a day, Gabriel kneels in front of a small Catholic altar. It’s horrible,” Maria Villar said through tears.

According to the U.N. report, at least 133 human rights defenders were murdered in Colombia in 2020, a 23% increase from 2019. The United Nations also registered 76 massacres across the country last year, which are defined as events in which three or more civilians are executed at once. AdThe report will be presented to the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Thursday by U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet. The United Nations urged Colombia’s government to increase its presence in these areas to protect civilians and bring down violence. Critics of his government have said that it has been slow at implementing some aspects of the peace deal, including the coca substitution projects.

BOGOTA, Colombia – More than 56,000 people in Colombia have died of COVID-19 during the pandemic. Colombian President Ivan Duque’s goal is to inoculate about 35 million people this year. Yellow DHL planes have been delivering COVID-19 vaccines to Bogota since last week. The COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access program, also known as COVAX, is also allowing Colombia to have access to the British–Swedish AstraZeneca vaccine. Venezuela also began the COVID-19 vaccine campaign last week after receiving a delivery of 100,000 doses of the Sputnik V from Russia.

BOGOTA, Colombia – Valentine’s Day romantics in the United States are giving hope to workers at flower farms in Colombia during the coronavirus pandemicDiana Puentes, a mother of two, said she was able to work overtime this season. American Airlines’ Boeing 777-200 were scheduled to fly from Bogota’s El Dorado International Airport to Miami International Airport to help deliver some of the 700 million flowers Colombia is exporting. Florverde Sustainable Flowers, an organization that certifies industry standards, listed Publix, Whole Foods, and 1-800-Flowers as some of the retailers selling Colombian flowers in the U.S. The Colombian flower industry bloomed when the U.S. Congress passed a law eliminating tariffs in the 1990s. Asocolflores, the Colombian Association of Flower Exporters, reported buyers canceled more than 50% of scheduled sales late last year.

BOGOTA, Colombia – Estefania Gonzalez is among the undocumented Venezuelan refugees who are panhandling in the streets of Bogota during the coronavirus pandemic. Gonzalez and Carlos Amayo said the crisis in Venezuela forced them to move to Colombia about two years ago. Immigration authorities estimate there are about 1.825 million Venezuelans living in the country and about 40% of them live in Bogota, Cucuta, Barranquilla, Medellin and Cali. Gonzalez said that without the proper documentation Venezuelan refugees can’t have access to public services. According to the United Nations, there are 5.4 million refugees and migrants from Venezuela worldwide.

FILE - In this April 14, 2019 file photo, Venezuelans cross illegally into Colombia near the Simon Bolivar International Bridge, seen from La Parada near Cucuta, Colombia. President Ivan Duque said that through a new temporary protection statute, Venezuelan migrants who are in the country illegally will be eligible for 10-year residence permits, while migrants who are currently on temporary residence will be able to extend their stay. The new measure could benefit up to one million Venezuelan citizens who are currently living in Colombia without proper papers, as well as hundreds of thousands who need to extend temporary visas. Other popular destinations for Venezuelan migrants include Panama and Chile, which have imposed visa requirements that make it harder for Venezuelans to move to those countries. AdAccording to the United Nations, there are 4.7 million Venezuelan migrants and other refugees in other Latin American countries after fleeing the economic collapse and political divide in their homeland.

BOGOTA, Colombia – Claudia Rivas has been showing up to work every day. She is grateful to still work at a restaurant’s kitchen in Bogota, the gastronomic capital of Colombia. Before the economic crisis, there were more than 90,000 restaurants that supported 1,500,000 families nationwide, according to The Colombian Association of the Gastronomic Industry, or ACODRES. Only about 42,000 of those restaurants have survived the lockdowns that allow authorities to keep hospital capacity under control and save lives. ACODRES estimates the restaurants’ closures left about 720,000 unemployed, including 230,000 restaurant workers and 490,000 who had indirect jobs.

Community journalists are relying on loudspeakers to deliver local news that the neighborhood can use. Chacon and Figuera have been doing community service for more than a year. Most recently, his administration ordered VPItv, a Miami-based digital news service, to cease operations in Venezuela where the correspondents operate. The few reporters who are left in Venezuela regularly self-censor to avoid the government’s “administrative measures” through the feared Telecommunications National Commission, or CONATEL. The Bus TV network started to use word of mouth in public transportation and has expanded to other public areas.

(AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)BOGOTA – Colombian officials say that they are ready to distribute millions of COVID-19 vaccines, once the shots arrive in the South American country. On Tuesday, officials from the Ministry of Health took journalists through a temperature-controlled warehouse in Bogota that can house up to 50 million vaccines. The freezers, which are about the size of a kitchen fridge, can hold up to 200,000 vaccines each, officials said. But vaccines have been slow to arrive in Colombia, which still hasn’t administered a single shot. Colombia has reported 1.75 million cases since the pandemic began, and 49,000 deaths.

Santana, who runs an organization that helps community leaders fleeing violence to settle in Bogota, is one of the thousands of activists assigned some sort of government protection. The Afro-Colombian community leader sometimes she uses a hat or a turban for disguise. Last year 120 community leaders were murdered in Colombia according to the U.N.’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, up from 107 a year earlier. Now 46, he's spent half of his life promoting human rights and fighting against illegal mining and corruption in his province. The U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet, recently urged the government to increase protection for activists in rural areas.

BOGOTA, Colombia – A new rise in coronavirus cases is challenging hospital capacity and prompting officials in Bogota, Colombia to enforce drastic measures. Health officials reported more than 1.8 million coronavirus infections and 46,451 COVID-19 deaths in Colombia. Hospital capacity in Bogota at intensive care units for COVID-19 patients was at 91.5% on Monday. For instance, Suba, Usaquen, and Engativa will be on lockdown until Jan. 18 and Teusaquillo, Kennedy, and Fontibon until Jan. 22. In some cases, it causes myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, and blood clots, so with the rise in COVID-19 cases, comes the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

BOGOTA, Colombia – A new rise in coronavirus cases is challenging hospital capacity and prompting officials in Bogota, Colombia to enforce drastic measures. Hospital capacity in Bogota at intensive care units for COVID-19 patients was at 91.5% on Monday. For instance, Suba, Usaquen, and Engativa will be on lockdown until Jan. 18 and Teusaquillo, Kennedy, and Fontibon until Jan. 22. Despite all of the measures, Dr. Rodolfo Dennis, an internal medicine specialist a the Fundacion Cardioinfantil, is still expecting the rise in cases to continue. In some cases, it causes myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, and blood clots, so with the rise in COVID-19 cases, comes the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

BOGOTA, Colombia – Nicolas Maduro’s allies took over Venezuela’s National Assembly on Tuesday, as part of a consolidation of power that increases the vulnerability of his opponents. Diosdado Cabello, the vice president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, leads the ruling party bloc. Jose Gregorio Correa, an outgoing legislator, delivered a speech in the National Assembly chambers. There are 253 members — including 219 members of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela — who belong to a left-wing electoral alliance. (Content for Local 10 News)Luz Marina Guzman was among the dozens of people who Maduro mobilized to stand outside of the National Assembly to celebrate with flags and signs.

A healthcare worker collects a nasal swab sample to test for COVID-19, in Bogota, Colombia, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021. Colombia's capital city is reimposing lockdown measures on Tuesday as new coronavirus infections rise around the country. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)BOGOTA – As the holiday season winds down, Colombia is experiencing a sharp rise in coronavirus infections that has prompted several cities to impose curfews and stay at home measures that had not been implemented for months. Officials said the measures are being taken to control a growing number of infections and stabilize hospitalization rates. The death rate from the virus in Colombia however, is lower than in Mexico, Argentina or Peru.

Nutritionist Beatriz Millan, center right, of the Renal Dialysis Unit and her dialysis patients harvest lettuce and chard during an agro-therapy session at El Tunal Hospital in Bogota, Colombia, Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. Doctors at El Tunal are hoping that gardening can have a positive effect on kidney patients, who must visit the hospital three or four times a week to have their blood cleansed by dialysis machines. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)BOGOTA – For the past seven years, Lionel Cifuentes has been coming to Bogota’s El Tunal Hospital three times a week to get treatment for his dysfunctional kidneys. Now doctors at the El Tunal hospital in Colombia’s capital are hoping that gardening can have a positive effect on kidney patients, who must visit the hospital three or four times a week to have their blood cleansed by dialysis machines. El Tunal's gardening project began about a month ago, Millan said, after patients were given potted onion plants to take home.

BOGOTA – Nicolas Maduro’s opposition reported 6.5 million Venezuelans around the world participated in a symbolic referendum to express their desire to oust Maduro and accept international aid. The referendum included the use of a mobile phone app and makeshift polling stations. It was a response to Venezuela’s recent National Assembly elections, which the opposition boycotted and had a reported turnout of more than 3.4 million voters. Guaido’s immunity as the leader of the National Assembly ends on Jan. 5. While Guaido has had the backing of the U.S., Maduro continues to have the support of China, Russia, Turkey, Iran and Cuba.

BOGOTA – The political impasse in Venezuela now includes an effort to give the millions of refugees and exiles around the world a voice with a new app. Guaido’s new app includes a ballot asking Venezuelans if they want new presidential elections and if they support humanitarian aid and support from the international community. From exile, Leopoldo Lopez, Guaido’s mentor, talked to reporters in Bogota this week about the referendum. The app to participate in the referendum has been available since Monday and voting will close on Saturday. President Donald Trump’s administration is offering a $15 million reward for Maduro’s arrest on narcotrafficking charges.

BOGOTA, Colombia – In Colombia, the holiday season officially begins Monday night. The centuries-old lighting of the candle’s tradition brought much-needed hope to many during what has been a tough year for the region. On store fronts, homes or gathered in the country’s main squares, candles and lanterns are put on display. It’s a tradition dating back to 1850, officially to honor the Virgin Mary on the eve of the immaculate conception. On Monday, however, the family tradition provided familiar and inexpensive comfort for many in uncertain times.

BOGOTA, Col. – During a speech about Sunday’s midterm elections, Nicolas Maduro’s right-hand man, Diosdado Cabello, used the government’s monthly food handout as a threat. Cabello delivered his speech during a socialist party rally in an effort to raise voter turnout among Venezuelans who are already dealing with worsening scarcity during the coronavirus pandemic. Guaido’s supporters say their participation is a ploy to increase voter turnout and create the impression that candidates are not running unopposed and the election isn’t rigged. Although he was asking Mile to vote for him, he admitted the election wasn’t legitimate. “We must take our rights by force and not stand idly by.”Amid doubts of a free and fair election, experts predict Sunday’s voter turnout will be about 30%.

BOGOTA, COLOMBIA – A handful of Colombian politicians openly supported President Trump ahead of the 2020 Presidential Election. He openly supported the president on social media. That, and online campaigning from several other Colombian politicians, sparked a rare rebuke from the U.S. Ambassador in Colombia a week before the election, who urged Colombian politicians to avoid getting involved. “It puts Colombia’s history of bipartisanship in danger in the United States,” said Guzman.

Across Latin America, the COVID-19 crisis has yielded a rare bright spot: Millions of people who were long excluded from traditional banking have joined the financial system using digital banking services. Across Latin America, the COVID-19 crisis has yielded a rare bright spot: Millions of people like Fierro who were long excluded from traditional banking have joined the financial system using digital banking services. Before the pandemic, she did not have a bank account and would have to go in person to pay bills with cash. The nation is also home to numerous virtual banking options. Brazil has also seen historically high levels of citizens signing up for banking services to access pandemic assistance.

Marlene Alfonso, a 69-year-old Venezuelan grandmother who goes by Toothless Cindy, sings about Venezuelan migrants' lives in hopes of tips from commuters on the Transmilenio, the crowded and crime-ridden public bus system in Bogota, Colombia, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)BOGOTA – With her pink cardigan and thick glasses, “Toothless Cindy” is becoming a musical sensation on Colombian public transport. “I’m trying to make something of myself,” she sings while riding on a bus packed with commuters heading into downtown. Two years ago, she moved to Colombia because rapping in Venezuela’s subways no longer helped her to make ends meet. This growing recognition comes as some Venezuelan migrants also make headlines in Colombia for committing crimes that include robberies on public buses.

(AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)BOGOTA – 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. Argentina hit 1 million confirmed cases on Monday and Peru and Mexico are expected to reach the grim marker in the weeks ahead. Brazil ranks third worldwide in the number of virus cases and passed 1 million infections back in June. Colombia has become the eighth country to hit 1 million confirmed coronavirus cases.

A group of Indigenous march during a national strike in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020. Workers' unions, university students, human rights defenders, and Indigenous communities have gathered for a day of protest in conjunction with a national strike across Colombia. Though President Iván Duque’s approval rating has improved during the pandemic, the country remains divided on a host of issues. Indigenous protesters participated in the gathering Wednesday, joining a chorus of complaints and requests that Duque set up negotiations. Though Chile has seen recent protests, other Latin American nations that saw unrest last year have not, suggesting the pandemic has hampered demonstrations.

BOGOTA – Powerful ex-Colombia President Álvaro Uribe was ordered freed from house arrest Saturday while he is investigated for possible witness tampering, the latest chapter in a case that has revealed lingering tensions over the country's peace process. The nation's Supreme Court had ordered Uribe detained in August during the probe, shocking Colombians and unleashing protests in favor and against the decision. He was the first president in Colombia’s recent history to be ordered placed on house arrest. His supporters contended the house arrest decision was unfair because ex-guerrillas have been allowed to remain free while they testify about war crimes. “That’s what Uribismo did not do when the Supreme Court ordered Uribe’s detention,” he said.

Venezuelan migrants walk to Bogota as they pass through Tunja, Colombia, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020. Thousands of Venezuelans are heading to Colombia, Ecuador and Peru in search of work as these countries reopen their economies following months of lockdowns. Before the pandemic, over 5 million Venezuelans had left their country, according to the United Nations. Over 100,000 Venezuelans returned to their country, where at least they’d have a roof over their heads. Further complicating matters, more than half of all Venezuelans in Colombia have no legal status.

American poet Louise Gluck speaks with the media, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2020, outside her home in Cambridge, Mass. Gluck, a professor of English at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., won the 2020 Nobel Prize for literature "for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal." (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)STOCKHOLM – Louise Glück, an American poet long revered for the power, inventiveness and concision of her work and for her generosity to younger writers, has won the Nobel Prize in Literature. “As one of our most celebrated American poets, we are thrilled that Louise Glück has received this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature," Michael Jacobs, chairman of the Academy of American Poets, said in a statement. In 2018, the award was postponed after sex abuse allegations rocked the Swedish Academy, which names the Nobel literature committee, and sparked a mass exodus of members.

Javier Ordonez died in a hospital after receiving repeated electric shocks with a stun gun from officers who detained him, seen on a video taken by Ordonez's friend, and published on social media. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)BOGOTA A night of uproar in Colombias capital over the death of a man in police custody has left seven people dead, dozens injured and buildings vandalized. In the video, two officers pin Ordez to a sidewalk while he is tasered. Stop, stop please! he can he heard crying. Authorities vowed to conduct a thorough investigation into his death while also calling on citizens to cease acts of violence and vandalism.

An employee measures the body temperature of a customer at the entrance of a MUY restaurant, a Colombian fast food chain that is planning to turn its branches into automated restaurants, in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2020. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)BOGOTA A Colombian fast food chain is planning to turn its branches into automated restaurants at a moment when the coronavirus pandemic has slammed the food service industry worldwide. The automat's main lobby is lined with colorful touch screens on which customers order their food. Spyce, a Boston eatery where robots cooked meals shut down in November to make changes to its menu and has not reopened. MUY is trying to adapt to the pandemic by making it easy for customers to order food from home through an app.

Facing travel restrictions and no work due to the economic shut down to curb COVID-19, Venezuelan migrants here are waiting for help to get home. We're living in a nightmare," said Cecilio Zagarra, an organizer and one of hundreds in the camp. They say Venezuelan authorities are only allowing Venezuelans to cross three days each week at what's normally a bustling border crossing. The new shantytown just north of Bogota has become home to hundreds of stranded Venezuelans, many children, pregnant women and the elderly. The largest number of Venezuelan migrants 1.8 million crossed into Colombia.

We are entering a very complicated stage, said Miguel Barreto, the WFPs regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean. The escalating hunger comes as the COVID-19 pandemic increasingly ravages Latin America. The new estimates for Latin America indicate the region will be especially hard hit. In Haiti, hunger could more than double, from 700,000 to 1.6 million. Latin America and the Caribbean are expected to see a 5.3% economic contraction this year, possibly a sharper drop than during the Great Depression.

ABC Displays has created a cardboard bed with metal railings that designers say can double as a casket if a patient dies. Company manager Rodolfo Gómez said he was inspired to find a way to help after watching events unfold recently in nearby Ecuador. Many could not find or were unable to afford a wood coffin, using donated cardboard ones instead. At least one doctor was skeptical of how sturdy a cardboard bed might be. He also warned that any corpses should first be placed in a sealed bag before being put in a cardboard coffin to avoid potentially spreading the disease.