International
Colombia’s crusade to repatriate its archeological heritage
November 5 |
Wearing latex gloves and a white coat, restorer Carla Medina holds part of Colombia’s history in her hands. A growing number of pre-Columbian pieces are returning from abroad in an unorthodox way: President Gustavo Petro himself is bringing them back.
“It’s a great responsibility and a great privilege,” he tells AFP in his laboratory at the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (ICANH).
Medina, 41, analyzes a clay vessel repatriated from Italy, which had to be reconstructed from fragments. She is grateful “to have the opportunity to have access to an object that has so many years of history”.
At least 560 pre-Columbian pieces were returned from other countries aboard the presidential plane of leftist Gustavo Petro, in some of the more than 30 trips abroad that he has completed in just over a year in office. International tours criticized by the opposition as dispensable and costly.
Most of the pieces returned from the United States, United Kingdom, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Mexico, among other countries, in a coordinated work between the Foreign Ministry and ICANH.
One of the most recent returns was in October and took place on the diplomatic vessel Gloria, where 12 archeological pieces traveled from Costa Rica to Cartagena.
The recovery is part of a strategy of “efficient use of resources”, said at the time the former vice-minister of Multilateral Affairs, Laura Gil, and is advancing at an accelerated pace compared to the previous government, in which only 18 pieces were repatriated in four years.
For Catalina Ceballos, director of cultural affairs at the Foreign Ministry, it is a way to “start talking about decolonization from another perspective.”
Most of the pieces returned to Colombia were taken out of the country when there was no legal clarity in the world on the traffic of archaeological goods.
Only since 1997 has Colombian law recognized the State as the legitimate owner of national archaeological heritage.
However, the fight against illegal trafficking of these pieces has not been a priority in a country bled by half a century of armed conflict between authorities, guerrillas, paramilitaries and criminal gangs. While the budget suggested by the Presidency for ICANH in 2024 is equivalent to some 2.3 million dollars, that proposed for the defense area and the Police is almost 600 times greater.
Juan Pablo Ospina, coordinator of the anthropology group at ICANH, nevertheless emphasizes that in the current government repatriations have been “successful” because the presidential plane has been “fully available” to bring pieces “properly packed and safeguarded on those trips”.
Recent returns have been made mostly by private collectors on a voluntary basis and require diplomatic work in each country of origin. ICANH is then in charge of the registration, cataloguing, transfer, reception and, in some cases, intervention of the pieces.
As most of the repatriated works are ceramic, the restoration processes are simpler. “Even though they are very old, they can be very well preserved with the passage of time,” says Medina.
The most vulnerable materials are those “of an organic nature,” such as textiles, paper or wood.
The composition of the materials also offers details about how Colombia’s early societies functioned in relation to their territory, says Medina.
For the most part, the Colombian territory was made up of pre-Columbian societies distributed in small chiefdoms.
Ospina assures that what today corresponds to Panama, Venezuela, Colombia and part of northern Ecuador is known as the “intermediate zone” in Latin American archeology, “because what happened there is completely different from what happened in Mesoamerica or in the central Andes,” where great empires were formed.
That is why in Colombia, unlike in Mexico or Peru, it is not common to find palaces, pyramids or large goldsmith traces, with one great exception: the treasure of the Quimbayas. A collection of gold found at the end of the 19th century in a small village in the department of Quindío (west), donated at that time to the Queen of Spain by the Colombian president Carlos Holguín and which today is in the Museum of America in Madrid.
Most of Colombia’s archaeological treasures are ceramic pieces from different periods and cultures, some 6,000 and 7,000 years old, found in the Caribbean, Ospina explains.
“They are very early evidence of ceramics,” he adds.
In other Colombian regions the use of ceramics dates back to approximately 1,000 BC, present mainly in religious and funerary rites.
International
Latin Music Stars Unite in Miami to Raise Aid for Victims of Venezuela’s Devastating Earthquake
Latin music stars including Marc Anthony, Ricardo Montaner and Feid will take part in a benefit concert in Miami on August 16 to raise funds and support victims of the devastating double earthquake that struck Venezuela.
The disaster has left 4,734 people dead and 16,740 injured, according to the latest official figures.
The lineup will also feature artists such as Jay Wheeler, Elena Rose, Silvestre Dangond, Gente de Zona, Mau y Ricky, Olga Tañón, Lasso, San Luis, Piso 21, Alleh, Zhamira Zambrano and Enrique Santos, with organizers expecting additional performers to join the event in the coming weeks.
Athletes, actors, entertainment figures, media personalities and leaders from the Hispanic community are also expected to participate in the initiative.
Organized by the United for Venezuela coalition, the concert will take place at the Kaseya Center in Miami starting at 6:00 p.m. local time (10:00 p.m. GMT) and will be broadcast simultaneously through multiple platforms.
According to organizers, viewers will be able to contribute through donation platforms and QR codes available during the event.
The concert will also feature reports on rescue efforts, the work of humanitarian organizations on the ground, and testimonies from people affected by the disaster to highlight the scale of the tragedy.
Venezuela was hit on June 24 by a powerful double earthquake measuring 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude, with the strongest impacts reported in areas including Caracas and La Guaira.
The event aims to bring together the international community and mobilize resources to assist families affected by the earthquake and support ongoing recovery efforts.
International
Trump Administration Seeks Global Action Against “Resurgent” Left-Wing Terrorism
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will host a ministerial meeting in Washington on Thursday to discuss what the Donald Trump administration describes as a growing threat from left-wing terrorism around the world.
According to a statement from the State Department, the meeting aims to promote “stronger joint action” among international partners to address what Washington considers security gaps that terrorist groups continue to exploit.
The U.S. government has not yet disclosed which countries will participate in the meeting or which foreign ministers are expected to attend.
The Trump administration claims that “far-left terrorism is resurging”, pointing to violent attacks linked to extremist movements in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and other regions.
U.S. officials argue that the threat has been “underestimated” by the international community for years as part of broader counterterrorism strategies.
As part of its efforts, the Trump administration has designated several left-wing extremist groups as terrorist organizations, including Antifa Ost, the Informal Anarchist Federation/International Revolutionary Front (FAI/FRI), Armed Proletarian Justice, and Revolutionary Class Self-Defense.
The United States has also announced rewards of up to $10 million for information that helps disrupt the financial networks supporting those organizations.
The meeting comes as the Trump administration seeks greater international cooperation on counterterrorism policies and increased coordination among governments to address what it considers emerging extremist threats.
International
President Noboa Declares New Security Strategy as Ecuador Faces Record Violence Levels
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa on Tuesday declared the National Comprehensive Security Plan 2025-2029 as a nationwide public policy, a strategy aimed at guiding state actions on security matters over the next four years.
The measure was formalized through an executive decree that activates the plan approved on March 9 by the Public and State Security Council (Cosepe) and replaces the National Comprehensive Security Plan 2019-2030, which had been designated as public policy in 2021.
Under the new decree, implementation of the strategy will be led by the ministries of Interior, Defense, and Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility, along with the National Intelligence Center and the National Secretariat for Risk Management. These institutions will be responsible for coordinating actions according to their respective areas of responsibility.
According to the official document, the new plan adopts a multidimensional and comprehensive security approach, with a long-term vision focused on national interests and on strengthening the State’s ability to respond to current threats.
The Ecuadorian government said the strategy seeks to improve coordination among public institutions within the framework of the “internal armed conflict” declared by Noboa in 2024 as part of the fight against criminal organizations operating across the country.
The plan also includes measures to strengthen international cooperation against transnational organized crime, which authorities identify as one of Ecuador’s main security challenges due to its links to drug trafficking and illegal mining.
The government described the document as a roadmap for prevention, protection, response and recovery actions in the face of national security risks, promoting coordinated efforts among state institutions.
Ecuador has remained under an internal armed conflict declaration since 2024, when Noboa intensified operations against criminal gangs that his administration has labeled terrorist organizations. Despite the increased security measures, the country recorded around 9,300 homicides in 2025, the highest figure in its history, according to data from the Ministry of Interior.
The new security plan comes as Ecuador seeks to strengthen its institutional response to escalating violence and the growing influence of organized crime networks.
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