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9 News
19-05-2025
- 9 News
Model's murder, just days after influencer shot, sparks condemnation of femicide in Latin America
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here BREAKING Joe Biden diagnosed with 'aggressive' cancer The murder of a 22-year-old model and influencer in Colombia has sent shock waves through the country and drawn parallels to the killing of a Mexican influencer last week, highlighting the high rates of femicide in Latin America. Maria Jose Estupinan, a university student in Colombia's northeastern city of Cucuta, close to the Venezuela border, was killed on May 15, according to Magda Victoria Acosta, president of the National Gender Commission of the Colombian Judiciary. Speaking at a news conference, Acosta said the suspect, disguised as a delivery man, shot Estupinan in her home when she opened the door. Maria Jose Estupinan, who was killed in Colombia on May 14, in a photo posted on her Facebook page. (Facebook) "She was a young, enterprising woman with a whole life ahead of her, but those dreams are cut short like the dreams of many women in this country," Acosta said. Estupinan had been the victim of a domestic violence case and was about to receive compensation for it, Acosta added. She said the commission "very strongly" condemned the crime and would work to deliver justice. Authorities are investigating the killing. CNN has reached out to the Colombian National Police and prosecutor's office for more information. Estupinan's Facebook page showed photos of her travels and daily life, including trips to New York and California, and of her posing by the pool or at the gym. The case has been covered widely by local media and spread on social media, with many comparing it to the May 13 shooting of 23-year-old beauty influencer Valeria Marquez in Mexico. TikTok beauty influencer Valeria Marquez was shot dead during live stream in Mexico. (CNN) Just days before Estupinan's death, Marquez was killed during a live stream at a salon by a male intruder. Officials in Mexico's Jalisco state said they are investigating Marquez's death as a suspected femicide – the killing of a woman or girl for gender-based reasons. While not all homicides involving women are femicides, many are. In 2020, a quarter of female killings in Mexico were investigated as femicides, with cases reported in each one of the country's 32 states, according to Amnesty International. Acosta did not say whether Estupinan's death was a suspected femicide – but her killing has highlighted the sheer scale of violence against women in Colombia. Gender-based violence in the country is widespread, including by armed groups, according to non-profit organisation Human Rights Watch. Survivors face many obstacles in seeking care or justice, and perpetrators are rarely held accountable, the group noted in its World Report 2024. Colombia's National Gender Commission has logged thousands of cases of gender and domestic violence, including high rates of sexual violence, neglect, abandonment and psychological violence, Acosta said. Some 41 women were reported missing in Colombia between January and August last year – with 34 cases in Cucuta, where Estupinan lived, Acosta said. Many of the women were minors. Northeast Colombia has been particularly volatile in recent months, with a sharp rise in fighting between militant factions. Escalating violence in the Catatumbo region displaced tens of thousands of people in January, many of whom flocked to Cucuta, where Colombia's military deployed thousands of soldiers and special forces. Colombia Mexico World police crime CONTACT US
Daily Maverick
16-05-2025
- Daily Maverick
Peru says suspect in miner killings arrested in Colombia
The ministry said in a post on X that the arrest of Miguel Rodriguez, alias 'Cuchillo' or 'Knife,' followed extensive intelligence work and coordination between the Peruvian and Colombian National Police and Interpol. Earlier this month, workers at a gold mine in northern Peru were kidnapped and murdered by illegal miners that were allied with criminal groups, according to police and industry sources, among a wave of violence over control of the area, which has forced the government to establish a military facility there. A lawyer for the suspect, Kevin Diaz, told local radio station RPP that his client had been in Venezuela for 'a few days' before returning to Colombia, where he was arrested. Rodriguez had previously denied involvement in the killings in an interview with a local television station. Illegal mining in Peru, mainly for gold, has begun moving more money than drug trafficking, between $3 billion and $4 billion, per year, according to the government. (Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Natalia Siniawski and Rafael Escalera Montoto; Editing by Brendan O'Boyle)
Miami Herald
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Wave of police killings in Colombia copies drug lord Pablo Escobar's terror tactics
Colombia Wave of police killings in Colombia copies drug lord Pablo Escobar's terror tactics A graphic of police officers recently killed in Colombia. Credit: Colombian National Police Nineteen police officers and 12 soldiers have been killed by armed groups in Colombia since April 15, in what President Gustavo Petro has called a 'plan pistola' – a tactic popularized by notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar that seeks to terrorize law enforcement. According to police, armed groups are putting cash bounties on officers' heads, a strategy Escobar used in the 1990s during peak cartel violence. Security experts say the killings are a backlash by groups like the Gaitanist Army of Colombia and the National Liberation Army, which have suffered losses in recent government offensives. In the face of the threats, the National Police reaffirmed its commitment to security, with its director, General Carlos Fernando Triana Beltrán, telling the Miami Herald that 'this institution is compelled by the memory of our murdered comrades to continue confronting any expression of crime.' In total, at least 21 police officers were murdered in Colombia in the first four months of the year, four times the number killed in the same period last year, according to Colombian media. 'Organized crime has dusted off an old, perverse and desperate practice of the sort Pablo Escobar used to try to prevent the fall of his cocaine empire: putting a price on the lives of the country's police officers,' Triana wrote in a newspaper column on Sunday. Bullet hole in government office in Quibdó, Colombia. Credit: Alfie Pannell The assassinations are the latest escalation in what many analysts describe as a deteriorating security situation in Colombia, which has seen intensified conflict in several regions this year. In February, Petro appointed Pedro Sánchez as defense minister – the first military official to hold the role in over three decades – signaling a shift away from the president's 'total peace' plan that sought to negotiate a settlement with Colombia's armed groups. 'Since the appointment of the new Defense Minister, there has been a very notable and clear increase in offensive operations against… [armed] groups,' said Elizabeth Dickinson, senior Colombia analyst at the Brussels-based Crisis Group. The current plan pistola is seen as a backlash against this security campaign, which has killed multiple leaders of armed groups. General Carlos Fernando Triana Beltrán, Director of Colombian National Police. Credit: Colombian National Police Authorities allege the Gaitanist Army launched the plan after security forces killed one of its top commanders, José Miguel Demoya Hernández, alias Chirimoya, on April 5. 'What we are seeing is the government is gaining ground and these organizations feel threatened,' said Sergio Guzmán, director of Colombia Risk Analysis, a security consultancy. In an X post on Tuesday, Petro specifically blamed the Gaitanist Army, which has its roots in the demobilized paramilitary United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, active in the 1990s and 2000s. 'In response to the downfall of several of its leaders, [the group] has decided to kill the children of the people,' the president wrote. Sánchez, the defense minister, said the killings were carried out by sicarios, or paid hitmen, with police reporting that the Gaitanist Army, Colombia's largest criminal organization, is offering up to $3 million Colombian pesos — about $700 — per officer killed. A lawyer for the group declined to comment. The Gaitanist Army's reported bounties mimic Escobar's strategy in the 1990s, when he offered rewards for killing police officers as part of a terror campaign against the government. From 1990-93, at least 153 police officers were killed in the drug lord's home city of Medellín, according to Colombia's National Center for Historical Memory. It remains unclear which group initiated the plan pistola, with no organization publicly claiming credit for the killings. While both police and soldiers have been targeted, the police are a 'softer target', Dickinson said. They tend to be less heavily armed or protected, and usually operate in civilian spaces. 'This has been sort of the easy target for armed groups to send a message to the government without the same risks that they face if they were to try the same thing against soldiers,' the analyst said. Five of the 15 officers murdered during the two weeks in April were off duty, Petro said. Colombian President Gustavo Petro. Sebastián Barros Long Visual Press/Abaca/Sipa USA Triana, the national police director, was defiant in the face of the attacks, telling the Herald that police have arrested 217 Gaitanist Army members since the plan pistola began. 'We continue to strengthen the operational security of our police force, adjusting routines, duties, and casework, especially in high complexity zones,' Triana said. The police have also begun taking exceptional measures, allowing officers to take their service weapons home and, in some rural regions, confining them to their stations. Soldiers are on maximum alert in several departments, where the army ordered them to remain in their barracks. Meanwhile, Petro maintained that the state will not back down from its offensive against armed groups. Said the president on X: 'We will not retreat.'
Miami Herald
06-03-2025
- Miami Herald
3 Colombians face big prison terms after guilty pleas to kidnapping US soldiers in Bogotá
A trio of Colombians who pleaded guilty in Miami federal court to drugging and kidnapping two U.S. Army soldiers at a sports bar in Bogotá five years ago face long prison sentences. On Wednesday, Pedro Jose Silva Ochoa, 47, was sentenced to more than 27 years by a federal judge after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to kidnap an internationally protected person. Also on Wednesday, Kenny Julieth Uribe Chiran, 35, pleaded guilty to the same conspiracy charge and awaits sentencing. Last May, Jeffersson Arango Castellanos — whose nickname is 'Harry Potter' — was sentenced to more than 48 years by U.S. District Judge Michael Moore after he pleaded guilty to a six-count indictment charging him with conspiracy to kidnap an internationally protected person and related offenses. READ MORE: US soldiers were kidnapped and robbed in Bogotá — and a man was just sentenced in Miami Moore gave Arango, 37, a harsher sentence than the 30 years federal prosecutors sought in a sentencing memo, in which they said that one of the U.S. soldiers has suffered 'multiple mental health illnesses' and was forced into early retirement from the military. Arango was extradited to the United States in May 2023. The two co-conspirators — his partner, Uribe, and their getaway driver, Silva — were extradited last year. Incident at Bogotá bar According to a factual proffer reflecting the prosecution's case, the two unnamed U.S. soldiers were hanging out at the Colombian Pub, a sports bar in the upscale Zona T area, at about 11 p.m. on March 5, 2020. Silva, driving a green Renault 9, dropped Arango and Uribe off at Colombian Pub and drove off and waited. At the bar, the couple found their targets — the U.S. soldiers, who were on temporary duty in Bogotá. According to Colombian National Police, video surveillance showed Arango and Uribe approaching the two soldiers several times at the bar. 'At some point, [Arango] approached the victims in the pub and, without their knowledge, incapacitated, intoxicated, and otherwise rendered the victims defenseless by putting drugs in their drinks,' according to the proffer filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bertila Fernandez. In a statement to law enforcement, Arango 'explained that he used drugs in a paste or liquid form to put into his victims' drinks.' Toxicology screenings found that the two soldiers had benzodiazepines in their system. Benzodiazepines are depressants that slow down the central nervous system and may cause sleepiness and a relaxed mood, but if overdosed can cause extreme drowsiness, confusion, impaired coordination, decreased reflexes, respiratory depression, coma and possible death, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. 'The victims recounted buying a couple of beers, listening to music, and dancing by themselves,' according to an FBI affidavit. One of the victims 'remembered seeing two women taking 'selfies,' and that he offered to take photos for them. He recalled asking if he could place his beer on their table to take the photos. Neither victim could remember what happened after that encounter.' Around 2:30 a.m. March 6, the soldiers and the couple left Colombian Pub together. The drugged soldiers stumbled and had difficulty keeping their balance, according to the proffer. Uribe put her arm around the waist of one of the soldiers, and he had his arm on her shoulder. Arango and Uribe steered their victims to Silva's awaiting Renault 9, and they drove off with the soldiers inside the car. Used soldiers' ATM cards to get money There, according to prosecutors, the trio took the soldiers' wallets, debit and credit cards, and cellphones. Uribe 'further manipulated' one of the soldiers to reveal his debit card's PIN code. For the next few hours, the trio drove the intoxicated soldiers around Bogotá and used the stolen credit and ATM cards at numerous locations where they extracted cash — $350 from two transactions and another total $250 from two other transactions of about $125 apiece. The credit card was used later that morning at a meat store and a tire store. Around 6:45 a.m. the trio dropped one of the victims off on the street marked Calle 25. Video footage shows the soldier stumbling and falling down on the street and Uribe lifting him off the street and guiding him to a sidewalk where he was left. A passerby saw the victim staggering and called the police, who then took the soldier to a hospital where he was treated and released. He eventually made his way back to his apartment where he was met by U.S. Embassy personnel, according to the proffer. The second soldier was also dropped off in the same neighborhood and was found by a taxi driver who helped him get to his apartment, where video footage showed him stumbling on the way to his apartment.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion - Trump needs a lesson on the Monroe Doctrine for US-Colombia relations
When President Biden declared Colombia a major non-NATO ally in 2019, he called it the 'linchpin … to the whole hemisphere.' The designation, meant to reinforce economic and security cooperation between Colombia and the U.S., also recognized a unique 200-year relationship based on shared values: democracy, trust, rule of law, security and sovereignty. In the early 21st century, bilateral cooperation in 'Plan Colombia' had transformed the country from a near-failed state to the most reliable U.S. security partner in Latin America. Once besieged by violent narco-insurgencies it was powerless to combat, Colombia by 2016 had become an emerging economy with a burgeoning middle class and strong institutions. The recent social media standoff between Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Trump portends a deterioration of the U.S.-Colombia relationship, which has been declining since 2022. The decoupling, examined alongside the doubling of cocaine production potential in Colombia in 2023, and the fact of a former violent revolutionary occupying the Casa Nariño, have several common causes. But seen under a broader lens, those causes can be linked to a stream of self-serving misinterpretations of the 200-year-old Monroe Doctrine — a policy originally intended to extend goodwill and protect fledgling South American democracies. Last month's war of words between the two populist presidents expressed mutual ill will and deep ideological differences. Petro refused to receive 200 deportees back to Colombia, citing inhumane treatment. Trump used economic leverage to bully Petro into submission, threatening immediate sanctions, tariffs and a freeze of Colombia's aid. That furnished Petro fresh ammunition to rant about American arrogance and imperialism, his favorite grievance and a key component of his political messaging. Trump's exploitative version of the Monroe Doctrine only bolsters Petro's propaganda power. In 2019 Trump invoked the doctrine in a speech to the United Nations, linking it to his brand of 'America First' hegemony, and reducing it to 'rejecting foreign interference,' which is code for China. Ironically, Trump's bullying might drive Colombia into China's arms. The decline of positive U.S. engagement in Colombia had already contributed to the spread of faux-democratic thinking and disinformation-fueled populism throughout the hemisphere. Today U.S. policy in Latin America is reduced to one of two extremes, neglect or bullying. Neither supports Colombia's democracy. Biden's policy of neglect in Colombia coincided with the inclusion of former guerrillas as prominent players in Colombian politics. Mayor Elicier Camacho Gral, former general of the Colombian National Police, told me in an interview that Colombia declined rapidly from a sophisticated democracy to a destabilized territory with a compromised government where criminal groups have a presence in two-thirds of the nation. Many Colombians believe their first leftist president is more friendly to narco-terrorist groups than to the democratic state Colombia has arduously built. To be sure, the Monroe Doctrine has been interpreted in varied ways, sometimes to justify military intervention and imperialism. But its original intent, as articulated in President Monroe's seventh address to Congress, was to protect the Western Hemisphere from outside interventions and show respect for the sovereignty of governments that the U.S. recognized as independent. It said that the U.S. 'could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any European power in any other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States.' If transnational terrorist groups can be considered oppressors, Plan Colombia was a successful manifestation of the Monroe Doctrine. Colombian General Eliecer Camacho told me Colombia's security crisis is related to the gradual dismantling of Plan Colombia in favor of the 2016 Peace Deal between the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) and the Colombian government, which he feels started an ethos of 'permissiveness towards delinquency.' 'Contrary to popular opinion, the U.S.-Colombian partnership was a success,' he said. Plan Colombia trained and modernized the national army into something capable of combating the armed insurgencies. It also trained and strengthened Colombia's judiciary, ushering in an era of accountability and stability. Today, Colombia is isolated, with a president complicit in institutionalizing impunity for terrorists. Until last month, there was no military or police presence in the volatile border region of Catatumbo, when a border-control war broke out between the ELN (National Liberation Army, now a proxy of the Venezuelan dictatorship) and FARC dissidents, in which 80 people died and 50,000 were displaced. In response, Camacho said, 'Petro sent forces to Catatumbo, but the military had already been drained of its strength — both financially and by the firing of leadership.' But instead of declaring a state of conflict in the region, the president declared a 90-day state of emergency over all of Colombia. Camacho said, 'Analysts believe the president is trying actually to increase the presence of delinquents, in order to take emergency controls to the point of staying in power in 2026.' 'For the United States, losing Colombia as a security ally is like losing Israel,' the general warned. Venezuela's patronage of Iran's Hezbollah and the ELN constitute a 'grave security threat to Colombia and the entire hemisphere.' Ingrid Serrato, a San Francisco-based immigration legal consultant, left her position in the Petro mayoral administration because of rampant corruption. 'Colombia's democracy is falling apart under a false leftist discourse,' she told me. 'Petro's reforms have a criminal origin. They buy votes and reforms with the money they are stealing.' From my experience living in Colombia, many there share her concern, as evidenced by the president's 60 percent disapproval rate of 60 percent. There is a hidden link between self-oriented U.S. foreign policies and the rise of faux democracies in South America. 'America First' threatens everything in its barbaric path, from security to trust to public opinion. Colombia doesn't need a vacuum or a bully; it needs trustworthy partners. Trumpism is the opposite; it lacks the goodwill necessary to build trust. Deconstructionists want to tear down all that has been built together for the public good. Amid the ensuing gloom, it's imperative for democracy builders to cling to those values that have historically brought people together, instead of those that tear us apart. Kristina Foltz is a Rotary ambassadorial scholar. She writes on U.S.-Latin American affairs Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
