Colombia's Petro signs decree to hold labor reform referendum
The referendum proposal seeks to limit the working day, increase the surcharge for Sunday and holiday work from 75% to 100% and require social security payments for delivery app drivers.
"If the law comes out just as the Senate says, with no imposition, then there would be a repeal of the decree," Interior Minister Armando Benedetti told reporters.
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The Independent
19 hours ago
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Colombian court frees former president Uribe from house arrest until it rules on bribery case
A Colombian appeals court ruled Tuesday that former president Alvaro Uribe must be released from house arrest while he challenges his conviction for bribery and witness tampering. On Aug. 1, the conservative leader was sentenced to 12 years of house arrest for threatening and trying to flip witnesses who had spoken to investigators about his alleged role in the formation of a right wing paramilitary group in the 1990s. Uribe denies the charges and has appealed the conviction to the Superior Tribunal in Bogota. The court has until mid-October to issue a definitive ruling on the case, which has gripped Colombia and also provoked reactions from Uribe's allies in the United States. On Tuesday the Superior Tribunal said it approved an injunction filed by Uribe's defense team seeking his release from house arrest. Uribe's lawyers argued the former president's right to due process was violated by the arrest order against him, as well as his right to a presumption of innocence.
Reuters
20 hours ago
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Court rejects house arrest for Colombia ex-president Uribe during appeal
BOGOTA, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Bogota's superior court has overturned a judge's order that former Colombia President Alvaro Uribe be held on house arrest while he appeals convictions for bribery of a public official and abuse of process, the court decision showed on Tuesday. Uribe was placed on house arrest this month by Judge Sandra Liliana Heredia, who sentenced him to 12 years in a long-running case about his connections to former right-wing paramilitaries. Uribe has always maintained his innocence and is appealing the convictions, which he and his supporters have characterized as political persecution. The court said it has ruled "to leave without effect" the order for house arrest "until the corresponding criminal court of this tribunal defines the recourse of appeal." The conviction made Uribe the country's first ex-president to ever be found guilty at trial and came less than a year before Colombia's 2026 presidential election, in which several of Uribe's allies and proteges are competing for top office. Detractors of Uribe, 73, have celebrated his conviction as deserved comeuppance for a man who has been accused for decades of close ties with violent right-wing paramilitaries. Uribe, who was president from 2002 to 2010 and oversaw a military offensive against leftist guerrillas, was charged over allegations he ordered a lawyer to bribe jailed paramilitaries to discredit claims he had ties to their organizations.
The Independent
a day ago
- The Independent
Residents of a remote island disputed by Colombia hope their Peruvian government won't forget them
A remote island on the Amazon river — now the subject of a territorial dispute between Peru and Colombia — has a single paved road for a main street, which is home to more nightclubs and evangelical churches than any other businesses. Named after a 16th-century saint, Santa Rosa has no running water or sewage system for its 3,000 residents, who build their one-story homes on stilts to prevent them from flooding every year. People are Peruvian, but they cross the river to neighboring cities in Colombia or Brazil to see a doctor for routine care or an emergency that the rusting local health center cannot handle. 'Our island suffers from many needs,' said Marcos Mera, the owner of a restaurant and dance hall in Santa Rosa, as he wiped sweat from his forehead and set up tables. While the struggles of Mera and his neighbors are not new, their hometown has suddenly become the center of attention for the Peruvian government. The surge in interest even garnered a presidential visit after Colombian President Gustavo Petro disavowed Peruvian jurisdiction over Santa Rosa earlier this month. Peru maintains it owns Santa Rosa Island based on treaties about a century old, but Colombia disputes that ownership because the island had not yet emerged from the Amazon river at the time. Residents see themselves as proud Peruvians even though they rely on other countries for basic needs. Now, they hope their government will not forget them again, a sentiment that President Dina Boluarte acknowledged during a recent visit. 'It's true that, for too long, our border populations have not received the attention they deserve,' Boluarte said Friday during her first-ever visit to the island. Recent tensions between Peru and Colombia have escalated into a series of incidents, including the arrest of three Colombian men who were on the island doing land surveying work. The arrests, described by Petro as 'kidnapping,' prompted a dispute over the workers' rights to be in Santa Rosa. They marked the third binational incident in the area since Petro denied Peru's jurisdiction over Santa Rosa Island in early August. 'We are Peruvians, and if necessary, we will defend our island with pride,' said José Morales outside his currency-exchange house where he trades Peruvian soles, Colombian pesos and U.S. dollars. Residents often carry all three currencies, plus Brazilian reals, at once. Most residents of Santa Rosa collect rainwater, which they filter through a white cloth and then boil, often using wood-burning stoves. Reaching the island takes a two-hour flight from Colombia's capital, Bogota, followed by a five-minute boat ride. In contrast, the trip from Peru's capital, Lima, involves a two-hour flight followed by a 15-hour boat journey. The parents, children and grandchildren of many Santa Rosa residents live in Leticia, Colombia, or Tabatinga, Brazil. Some have also buried their loved ones in those cities, too, as Santa Rosa does not have a cemetery. Several residents said they have a cordial relationship with people in Colombia and Brazil. 'We live peacefully, sharing culture, gastronomy and good ideas,' Mera said before criticizing Colombian politicians saying he thinks they "have made a mistake.' Some, however, are going as far as thanking Colombia's president for drawing interest to Santa Rosa. 'I have to thank Petro for speaking out like that,' nurse Rudy Ahuanari said. 'In all these blessed years, no minister had ever shown interest in us, but now he has. We were truly forgotten — not even God remembered.' ____ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at
