Seeking ways to boost to its economy, Colombia has set aside three tax-free shopping days this summer. Critics fear they could become super spreader events for the coronavirus.
"It's not just city hall that has to act. You have to promote solidarity among neighbors," says a mayor who encourages residents sheltering in place to hang red rags so others will know to help them.
Since the country's 2016 peace deal, former rebels have joined armed groups operating in narcotics trafficking, extortion and illegal gold mining, according to the Colombian military.
Colombian officials say 12,000 Venezuelans have taken buses back to their home country since Colombia imposed restrictions to stop the coronavirus outbreak. Many other Venezuelans are fleeing on foot.
Currulao combines drums and marimbas and is popular along the country's Pacific coast where most of the population is Afro-Colombian. One verse goes: "We no longer have peace in our paradise."
Colombia is home to about 1.7 million who fled neighboring Venezuela in recent years. Now that it has shut down to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the migrants say they are extra vulnerable.
The public radio stations "can be fundamental in constructing peace," says Juan Pablo Madrid, an analyst at Bogotá's Foundation for Press Freedom. But some employees are facing threats from gangs.
FARC guerrillas agreed to disarm in a 2016 peace deal, and Colombia's government promised to protect them. But in the years since, nearly 200 former FARC rebels have been attacked and killed.
Nature has taken over this onetime penal colony turned national park, surrounded by waters popular with divers for their sharks, rays and whales. A resort manager calls it a "mini-Galápagos."
Major rallies started on Thursday as demonstrators are "angry over a great big long list of issues." President Iván Duque is trying to get a grip on the unrest by announcing a "national dialogue."
The country wants to shake its image as an illicit narco nation. Now it's already home to more than two dozen legit cannabis companies, with exports to Canada and the U.K.
The Petronio Alvarez festival is the big event of the summer — five days of music and food and fashion. More than 100,000 people travel to celebrate Afro-Colombian culture.
In a video, one of the negotiators of the 2016 peace agreement accused the government of betrayal. The leader of another guerrilla group embraced the announcement, saying, "Better late than never."
The government has promised to welcome migrants from neighboring Venezuela as "blood brothers." But more than 1 million newcomers are adding to the stress on an already strained health-care system.
More than 1,400 members of Venezuelan security forces crossed the border hoping to one day return. Some say they're losing steam as efforts to depose the administration have fizzled.
On Saturday, thousands of Venezuelans crossed the newly reopened border, seeking basic supplies like food and medicine that are scarce in their own country.
The pace of the exodus is escalating, as Venezuela suffers from political chaos, food shortages and hyperinflation. The U.N. says one million people have left just since November 2018.
The United Nations refugee agency set up a facility in Maicao near the Venezuelan border, providing help for more than 300 migrants. The facility aims to expand to meet the growing need.
On Easter, people will gather to pray in the cathedral, situated 600 feet underground in the Andean mining town of Zipaquirá. It was built in the caverns and tunnels left behind by salt miners.
An All Things Considered team recently traveled along a common Colombian route taken by Venezuelans fleeing crisis in their country and discovered dramatic stories of an expanding exodus.
Tensions are building at Colombia's border with Venezuela, where former Venezuelan forces and migrants are taking refuge. Many are eager for a revolution back home.
Those service members who have escaped amount to less than 1 percent of the Venezuelan military, but they now pledge allegiance to Juan Guaidó as their country's president.
Some aid workers are being denounced as opposition activists and there are fears that all aid could be blocked. The situation could soon resemble a "medieval siege," warns an analyst in Caracas.
Venezuelan migrants come into contact with Colombian guerrillas after crossing the river border. The migrants have turned up among captured and killed rebels, a Colombian military commander tells NPR.
