John Otis

FARC rebels used to chain their kidnap victims in the jungle until they received ransom. Now tourists pay ex-guerrillas hundreds of dollars to take them hiking and whitewater rafting there.

More than a dozen former Colombian soldiers are detained in connection with the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. Some officials and analysts say the Colombians are being used as scapegoats.

U.S. sanctions for Venezuela's crackdown on democracy are making the country's economic crisis worse. Authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro is seeking sanctions relief from the Biden administration.

The proposed tax reform that sparked protests has been withdrawn. But Colombians are now demanding actions to tackle poverty, inequality and school reform. At least 24 people have died.

Even though COVID-19 deaths are spiking and the country is climbing out of a deep economic downturn, the president has proposed new taxes. Colombians are defying restrictions by protesting.

Protesters are taking to the streets of Colombia demonstrating against the government's mishandling of the pandemic, and its proposal to raise taxes at a time of deep economic pain.

"We want to demonstrate that although we're not a rich country, we can do something that is humanitarian ... but at the same time is an intelligent and sound migration policy," Iván Duque tells NPR.

More than 5 million Venezuelans have fled their country, many of them to neighboring Colombia, whose president is winning praise for his open-door policy toward Venezuelans.

Colombia's president has unveiled a program to let undocumented Venezuelan migrants live and work legally in the country for up to 10 years. Nearly a million Venezuelans in Colombia lack legal status.

The country is the top flower exporter to the U.S. When the pandemic hit, farmers feared they'd have to destroy flower beds and lay off thousands of workers. Here's why that didn't happen.