Bogotá, Colombia — It was 3 a.m. one night in November when Boris Forero decided to leave the remote jungle camp at El Naranjal, convinced that the pattering of tropical rain and cover of darkness would conceal his escape. His heart was racing, and he felt torn between missing his friends—the guerrillas he fought beside for …
Continue reading FARC rebel rehab hopes to create lasting peace in Colombia (Newsweek)
Bogotá, Colombia — On a brisk, rainy day in late March, eight determined protesters held a seemingly endless vigil outside Santa Ana Parish on Calle 33A. With all the solemnity of a requiem, they directed their prayers at an off-white building across the street. I approached them curiously, and one woman shuffled over to me. “They perform abortions over there,” she whispered out of the corner of her mouth.
Last weekend I visited the home that my father grew up in. The slope-side building in Bogota's historic district of La Candelaria is a "hippie" hostel today. In the room that was once occupied by my family, a small TV entertains languid backpackers spread out on mats across the tiled floor. The ceiling is about …
Continue reading An immigrant story from the son of an immigrant country
Barranquilla, Colombia (CNN)Bikinis, bare skin, face paint, feathers. Pretty much what you'd expect this time of year from Rio Carnival, right? Well, sure. But the world's most famous carnival doesn't have a monopoly on feather frenzies. In the coastal Colombian city of Barranquilla, one of the world's largest spectacles of dance and cultural pageantry is …
Continue reading El Carnaval de Barranquilla sizzles in Colombia (CNN Travel)
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has found a convenient way to deal with the broad-based protests cropping up across the country -- pretend they don't exist. But with thousands of Colombian farmers and public service workers marching through Bogota, the capital, on August 29, to air grievances against everything from fuel prices to free-trade policies …
Continue reading Colombia’s Santos sparks ire and protest memes
Justin Calderón 