Cali

Soldiers line up before leaving to patrol the streets in Bogotá, Colombia, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2019. 

Use the force: Part II

Critical State

Critical State, a foreign policy newsletter by Inkstick Media, takes a deep dive this week into what happened when Colombia’s military took on police work in Cali, the country’s third-largest city.

Friends and family of Nicolas Guerrero lit candles near the spot where he was killed during a protest

Families seek justice for youth killed while protesting last year

Police
A visit to this farm near Cali, Colombia, inspired Mauricio Zuñiga to become a coffee exporter.

Colombian Deportado Coffee’s founder hopes to open a conversation about US immigration

Immigration
Protesters block a road in downtown Cali using ropes and burning wood. One of them uses a home made shield that says “Cali Resists" 

‘Police have to realize that they also make mistakes’: Colombian protesters demand reform, empathy

Police
DHS bus

The complicated reasons why some people overstay their US visas

Conflict
Laura Ulloa stands in her yard at her family home in Cali, Colombia. Behind her are the Cordillera Mountains, where she was held hostage for seven months

Once held hostage, she’s now trying to help her former captors

Conflict

Kidnapped by the FARC as a child, Laura Ulloa went to work helping ex-rebels as an adult.

Former FARC hostage now accused of collaborating with kidnappers

Global Politics

Sigifredo Lopez was held hostage by FARC guerrilla for seven years. But law enforcement officials say Lopez was actually a collaborator with them, and have charged him in connection with the death of his fellow lawmakers.

‘Law of the Jungle’

Arts, Culture & Media

A buried treasure of millions, desperate soldiers and FARC guerrillas all come together in this true-life thriller set in the Colombian jungle.

Former FARC Prisoner Sigifredo Lopez Accused of Being a Collaborator

Global Politics

Lopez is accused of helping the Marxist guerrillas to plan his own kidnapping, which led to the deaths of 11 Colombian lawmakers.

The World

Cali SUVs

– There’s another front now in California’s seemingly endless battle against automobile pollution. Sport utility vehicles, vans and trucks are all the rage there. The boom in big, heavy vehicles is also threatening the state’s air quality, and regulators there are considering steps to make these vehicles meet the same emissions standards as regular cars. […]