Latest from Colombia

When Singapore was thrust into independence in 1965, its founding prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, called the moment “unviable.” With limited resources, no army, and not even a reliable water supply – the island relied heavily on Malaysia for drinking water – the odds of national success were slim. “Now it was our unenviable task to make it work,” stated Kuan Yew.

Wearing his presidential baseball cap and white shirt above a cheering crowd in Cali’s Plaza de San Francisco, Colombian President Gustavo Petro delivered a speech defending his decision to bypass Congress and call for a national popular consultation on August 7, 2025.

Eight people were killed and more than 75 injured in a wave of 24 coordinated attacks launched early Tuesday across southwestern Colombia by dissident factions of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The explosions mark one of the deadliest escalations of violence since President Gustavo Petro took office in August 2022.

Singapore’s growing strategic presence in global aviation was underscored this week as Colombia’s national airline, Avianca, finalized a key fleet expansion deal with Singapore-based aircraft lessor BOC Aviation. The agreement reflects deepening commercial ties between the two countries, even as Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund—among the world’s most influential institutional investors—marked a notable shift in its financial exposure to Colombian debt markets.

On the quietly elegant stretch of Tras Street in Singapore’s historic Chinatown, a modest sign outside a conserved white shophouse reads,LATIDO – A Taste of Colombia. Step inside, however, and what awaits is far more than a taste: it’s a deeply personal expression of memory, identity, and belonging. Earthy hues, handcrafted Nariño masks, and Mopa Mopa vases frame an open kitchen, where chef Fernando Arévalo brings to life his most intimate project yet.

On the quietly elegant stretch of Tras Street in Singapore’s historic Chinatown, a modest sign outside a conserved white shophouse reads,LATIDO – A Taste of Colombia. Step inside, however, and what awaits is far more than a taste: it’s a deeply personal expression of memory, identity, and belonging. Earthy hues, handcrafted Nariño masks, and Mopa Mopa vases frame an open kitchen, where chef Fernando Arévalo brings to life his most intimate project yet.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro is facing fierce backlash after announcing plans to bypass the country’s Congress and push through a national referendum by presidential decree— a move oppositionleaders and legal experts have condemned as a threat to the country’s constitutional order.

Hugo Zapata, one of Colombia’s most revered contemporary artists and a master sculptor whose black stone works transformed the country’s relationship with landscape, form, and time, has died at the age of 80 in his home in El Retiro, Antioquia.

The mere mention of Jakarta conjures a rush of sensations – steamy pavements after a tropical rainfall, the scent of clove and tumeric drifting on humid air, the rhythmic call to prayer echoing between glass towers. This is what makes travel in Southeast Asia so unforgettable. So captivating. So timeless.

An important deadline is approaching for the Colombian capital as registration for the first edition of theInternational Violin Contest: City of Bogotácloses on May 31.