Colombia

Federal authorities have confiscated an incredible 16.5 tons of cocaine from a ship at a port in South Philadelphia.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza dismissed Angelina Jolie’s meeting with Venezuelan refugees this weekend as an orchestrated “show” and accused the United Nations Human Rights Commission on Refugees (UNHRC) of inflating the number of people who have fled the country.

Thousands of Venezuelans poured into neighboring Colombia this weekend after the Maduro regime partially re-opened the border following a four-month blockade.

The Russian government rejected a Wall Street Journal report on Tuesday claiming it had largely withdrawn its significant military presence in Venezuela, adding that it had not contacted President Donald Trump about any such moves.

Venezuelans living near the Colombian capital of Bogotá have received numerous anonymous death threats promising to “cleanse” them from society, the Colombian Center for Research and Popular Education reported Thursday. 

Colombia’s Supreme Court ordered the release of “Jesús Santrich,” a senior member of the Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) terrorist group, on Thursday, after his arrest on charges of trafficking cocaine because of a jurisdictional issue.

Raúl Gutiérrez Sánchez, a Cuban national recently acquitted of charges of plotting terrorist attacks for the Islamic State, reportedly began a final voyage home on Tuesday after Cuba refused to allow him back in the country.

A Colombian judge dropped charges on Monday against Raúl Gutiérrez Sánchez, a 46-year-old Cuban economist accused of plotting a terrorist act on behalf of the Islamic State (ISIS), because “if everyone were judged by what they posted on social media, we would all be in jail.”

Over 1.2 million Venezuelans are now living in Colombia, directly as a result of the economic and humanitarian catastrophe in their homeland, the head of the country’s migration agency revealed on Monday. 

Venezuelan President Juan Guaidó confirmed on Thursday that he had sent envoys to a meeting with representatives of the rogue socialist Nicolás Maduro regime in Norway this week, insisting, “there isn’t any sort of negotiation” between the two sides.

Troops loyal to Venezuela’s socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro “clandestinely” taught members of a South American communist terrorist guerilla group how to use Russian-manufactured surface-to-air missiles, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing Colombian authorities.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) spent some of the congressional recess in South America, which included visiting the Colombia-Venezuela border, where he expressed support for the Venezuelan people and condemned president Nicolas Maduro as he clings to power and citizens suffer.

Criminal gangs are charging desperate Venezuelans fees to enter Colombia as growing numbers of people flee the deepening humanitarian crisis in their homeland, according to a report from NTN24 on Tuesday. 

Nicolás Maduro’s top diplomat accused U.S. counterpart, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, of “shameless cynicism” Sunday following the latter’s call to allow aid into Venezuela.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo concluded a short tour of Latin America Sunday with a visit to Cúcuta, Colombia, a border city Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro blocked off this year to prevent U.S. aid from entering his impoverished country.

Russia is ready to engage in bilateral talks with the United States over what it describes as America’s “flagrant interference” and “destructive influence” in chaos-ridden Venezuela, the Kremlin’s foreign minister reportedly told his U.S. counterpart in a telephone conversation over the weekend.

The U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions on Friday against six Venezuelan government officials loyal to dictator Nicolas Maduro for their role in blocking humanitarian aid shipments in February.

Vice President Mike Pence joined several South American presidents in Colombia Monday, renewing President Donald Trump’s declaration that “all options are on the table” to remove Nicolas Maduro from power in Venezuela.

Venezuela’s socialist Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) were filmed on Thursday stopping a caravan carrying interim President Juan Guaidó as he and other politicians traveled to Colombia to help transport aid into the country.

The socialist regime in Venezuela closed its land and air borders with neighboring countries on Wednesday to prevent the entry of U.S. humanitarian aid into the crisis-stricken country.

Venezuela’s socialist dictatorship announced Tuesday the organization of a concert on the Colombian border to celebrate the repressive regime, a direct response to a coordinated effort led by British billionaire Richard Branson to organize a concert on the Colombian side to raise funds for humanitarian aid.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) visited the Colombian border town of Cucutá on Sunday, where he blasted the inhumanity of socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro and pledged to force through the arrival of humanitarian aid from the United States.

“We fight all over the world, and then you look at what happens right on our front door,” Trump said. “I don’t like seeing it, I’m not happy about it.”

Venezuelan interim President Juan Guaidó claimed on Monday that he successfully secured the entry of humanitarian aid into the country, despite the socialist Maduro regime using the military to block its entry.

Dozens of doctors flooded Venezuela’s border bridge with Colombia on Sunday urging the Maduro regime to stop blocking the entry of humanitarian aid into the crisis-stricken country.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is planning to take the country’s relationship with the U.S. to an “ambitious” new level, Brazilian Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo said at a press conference Thursday.

First Lady Melania Trump has a plan to talk with the first lady of Colombia about the opioid crisis during a White House visit Wednesday.

A Venezuelan woman awaiting humanitarian aid from the U.S. told a national outlet Thursday that she witnessed a friend die while waiting for dictator Nicolás Maduro to allow the aid to enter the country.

Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro once again posted videos of himself Wednesday appearing to train with his armed forces to prepare for an allegedly incoming U.S. invasion, this time participating in what appear to be cardiovascular exercises and training with the national air force.

Socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro deployed the military to block a convoy of U.S.-backed humanitarian aid from entering Venezuela on Tuesday, leaving much-needed food and medical supplies stuck on a border bridge in Colombia.