Columbia

In Colombia, A Town Badly Scarred By Wartime Rape

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 15:51:30 +0000

El Placer is a remote hamlet deep in southern Colombia, on the edge of the Amazon. Founded half a century ago by farmers who found it fertile and bucolic, its name means "The Pleasure."

But for women and girls in El Placer who suffered years of sexual assaults after an illegal armed group stormed in, the name is only associated with unspeakable violence and murder.

Brigitte Carreño, 25, is among the women who suffered.

Years Of Combat Experience, And Just Turning 20

Juan Forero — Thu, 30 May 2013 07:05:00 +0000

Luis Bedoya is baby-faced and skinny.

And he looks ever the boy when he puts on an industrial-sized apron, thick gloves and a metal helmet - the tools of an apprentice welder at the Don Bosco center in this city in southern Colombia.

It's a big complex, complete with classrooms, basketball courts, a dormitory and work rooms.

As U.S. Consumes Less Cocaine, Brazil Uses More

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 22:31:00 +0000

As cocaine consumption falls in the United States, South American drug traffickers have begun to pioneer a new soft target for their product: big and increasingly affluent Brazil.

And the source of the cocaine is increasingly Bolivia, a landlocked country that shares a 2,100-mile border with Brazil.

As Brazilian police officers and border agents can attest, the drug often finds its way to Brazil by crossing the Mamore River, which separates the state of Rondonia from Bolivia in the heart of South America.

It is not an easy border to patrol. Much of it is porous jungle or river.

Game, Set And Match: U.S. Tennis Tournaments Move Abroad

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 23:26:00 +0000

Throughout most of its 86 years, Los Angeles' premier tennis tournament attracted the biggest names in the game. But over the years, stars stopped coming, and so did fans.

Now the Farmers Classic, which has been in L.A. since 1927, is headed to Bogota after it was bought by a Colombian sports marketing and entertainment company.

"There's a big hole in my heart.

'Lost Jews' Of Colombia Say They've Found Their Roots

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 22:24:00 +0000

They are called "crypto-Jews" or "lost Jews," and in recent years they have emerged in remote places as scattered as India, Brazil, the American Southwest and here in Colombia.

They were raised as Christians but believe they have discovered hidden Jewish roots, prompting many to return to Judaism.