Drones hit a guerrilla camp in southern Apure on October 30 and the army that operates them has published no toll: 19 dead by one count, around 20 by another, nine bodies in a morgue in San Fernando. Five years after an operation that ended with the force withdrawn and 12 soldiers hostage, the target changed, the method changed, and the only record is the one a human rights group wrote.
An attack on a military base in southern Colombia killed four civilians, including a two-month-old baby, President Abelardo de la Espriella said on Monday. The preliminary toll from the attack in Planadas counted four dead, including the child.
The Venezuelan armed forces bombed a National Liberation Army (ELN) encampment in the border state of Apure, leaving at least 19 dead, according to TRT World, citing the NGO FundaRedes and sources close to the operation. FundaRedes coordinator Juan Francisco Garcia told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that nine bodies arrived in San Fernando and another ten were transferred later.
Colombia’s president, Abelardo de la Espriella, ordered on Thursday the temporary militarization of Cúcuta, on the border with Venezuela, amid a wave of violence and killings by illegal groups, a city that in recent days saw the murder of a mayoral hopeful and a bombing that left four police officers wounded.
Colombia's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that 256 Colombians have died and 973 are missing in Russia's war against Ukraine, according to G1. The deaths were recorded through two channels — 162 through information from Ukraine and 94 through information from Russia — and among the missing, 676 cases were registered through Ukraine and 297 through Russia, according to UPI.
A bombing by the Colombian Armed Forces against a Clan del Golfo structure in the department of Chocó left at least six dead and one captured, according to a preliminary toll confirmed by President Abelardo de la Espriella, who said the toll so far is six killed and one captured, “but there are more”.
Colombia’s president-elect, Abelardo de la Espriella, recognized Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s victory in the Brazilian elections and defended maintaining cooperation between the two countries despite political and ideological differences, according to Brasil 247. “In the Colombian presidential campaign, President Lula openly backed Iván Cepeda and I won. In the Brazilian campaign, I backed Bolsonaro and Lula won. Neither does Lula decide for Colombians nor do I decide for Brazilians. THE PEOPLE DECIDE!”, he said.
Donald Trump’s administration revoked the visas of 61 people linked to Bolivia and Colombia, including officials and former members of both countries’ governments, according to G1. In Bolivia, the restrictions targeted 15 politicians and their close relatives, including lawmakers, judges, prosecutors and former members of security and investigation agencies.
The collapse of an illegal gold mine in southwestern Colombia killed 14 people and wounded seven others, according to local authorities cited by Al Jazeera on Monday. Nariño’s Peace and Security Secretary Alex Gonzalez confirmed the toll to the Caracol network and said efforts to find further survivors had concluded, according to TRT World, which cited the governor’s office on the rugged terrain and the presence of illegal armed groups hampering access and recalled the August collapse in Policarpa, also in Nariño, with 13 dead.
The United States has sent hundreds of soldiers to Panama for training, an activity it will repeat later in Honduras and Colombia, according to The New York Times, cited by El País. The military detachment is preparing to take part in special operations against drug trafficking cartels, according to sources at the newspaper cited by El País.
Thousands of Colombians protested peacefully across the country on Wednesday against right-wing President Abelardo de la Espriella, in the opposition’s first major demonstrations since he took office in August, in a Bogota rally led by former President Gustavo Petro with trade unionists, Indigenous groups, students and feminist activists, according to France24.
Colombia opened its embassy in Jerusalem on Wednesday, becoming the 10th country to do so, as new President Abelardo de la Espriella reversed his predecessor’s break with Israel, according to the Jerusalem Post. On Tuesday, the free trade agreement that was terminated by Petro was reinstated. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and his Colombian counterpart, Omar Bula Escobar, attended the inauguration, according to Middle East Eye. Former president Gustavo Petro had broken diplomatic relations with Israel in May 2024 over its actions in Gaza and had heavily criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The United States sent MQ-9 Reaper drones to South America, The New York Times revealed on Tuesday, in a text by G1, for anti-narcotics operations in the region. According to officials heard by the newspaper, the drones were redirected from Africa to Colombia and Ecuador, with no details on how many were sent to each country.
Ecuador received two MQ-9A Reaper drones in the last week of September, which arrived in Guayaquil aboard a C-5M Super Galaxy, according to Infodefensa. The two aircraft are already deployed at Taura Air Base, in Guayas province, for persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions against drug trafficking and organized crime. Colombia agreed with the United States to receive three MQ-9A Reaper drones on loan, according to Colombia One, for surveillance and intelligence against drug trafficking and armed groups.
The government of Donald Trump revoked the visas of 27 current and former Latin American officials and their family members from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, according to G1. According to the American State Department, the measures involve officials from those countries and are part of an offensive against corruption and drug trafficking. The Associated Press reported that the US revoked the visas of Bolivia's chief prosecutor and other Latin American officials, in a text republished by Gate News.
Colombia has extradited Geovany Andres Rojas, accused of leading an organisation formed by previous members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), to the United States. Rojas, also known as “the Spider”, was flown to California and will face drug trafficking and terrorism charges. According to Reuters, in a text republished by the website WIMZ, three police sources said it is the first extradition of a top commander under President Abelardo de la Espriella.
Colombia extradited one of the main leaders of a dissident faction of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to the United States on Friday, September 25, 2026, according to three police sources cited by Reuters, in a report republished by G1. The man extradited is Geovany Andrés Rojas, known by the alias “Araña”, described as the leader of the Comandos de Frontera, a faction of the Coordinadora Nacional del Ejército Bolivariano. It is the first extradition of a high-ranking commander of an armed group under President Abelardo De La Espriella; his case had been suspended under Gustavo Petro’s government, amid its peace negotiations. The transfer began at La Picota prison in Bogotá, in an operation by Colombia’s judicial police and Interpol, and the procedure includes flying him to the United States aboard a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) aircraft, according to reports cited by ColombiaOne.
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it will take “the necessary measures” to safeguard its national interests in response to what it called Colombia’s unjustified and hostile approach, according to Sputnik. The reaction follows Bogotá’s severing of diplomatic relations with Tehran, in force since 19 September 2026, according to Sputnik, which cited Colombian national security concerns, the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s obstruction of inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Colombia severed diplomatic relations with Iran effective 19 September 2026, according to The Rio Times, which cited Colombian radio station Caracol and the country’s Foreign Ministry statement. The government cited human rights violations, alleged Iranian links to terrorist and narcoterrorist groups, the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and obstruction of the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and kept consular relations, according to the Venezuelan state outlet teleSUR, which also cited the ministry’s statement.
Colombia’s government withdrew the declaration of intervention it had filed on 5 April 2024 in the case over genocide in the Gaza Strip brought by South Africa against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The court made public on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, the decision Colombia notified on 18 September, according to the court’s official case page and Anadolu Agency. The intervention rested on Article 63 of the court’s statute, which allows a state that is not party to a dispute to make submissions when the case concerns the interpretation of a convention it has also signed. Colombia was never a party to the main proceedings, and the withdrawal does not affect them. The decision reverses the policy of Gustavo Petro, who severed relations with Israel in May 2024 and halted Colombian coal exports to the country. Abelardo de la Espriella, who took office on 7 August 2026, restored diplomatic and economic ties, according to Middle East Eye and Anadolu Agency: the government plans to reopen its embassy in Jerusalem, set up a bilateral economic commission and send a delegation to Israel in October. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar thanked Colombia for the withdrawal, according to ColombiaOne.