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Alfie Pannell

@alfiepannell.bsky.social
51 followers 57 following 35 posts

Journalist in Colombia covering Latin America & Caribbean. Words in Al Jazeera, Reuters, NPR, Miami Herald. linktr.ee/alfiepannell

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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
By threatening to attack Colombia and its president, Trump inadvertently bolsters the same leftist populism that his aggressive foreign policy desperately seeks to dislodge from Latin American politics. www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-...
miamiherald.com
Petro calls on Colombians to take to the streets following Trump threats
Gustavo Petro urged Colombians to take to the streets after Donald Trump's threats, vowing he would take up arms to defend Colombia's sovereignty if needed.
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
The shock removal of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro by the United States military has triggered alarm in bordering Colombia, where analysts warn of the possibility of far-reaching repercussions. www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/202...
aljazeera.com
Colombia braces with alarm after Maduro’s removal in Venezuela by US
Colombia could face its own turmoil from the stunning turn of events both in violence and a mass influx of refugees.
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
The ELN's unusual nation-wide armed strike shows how Trump's growing militancy in the region is empowering the guerrillas, strengthening their claim to be an anti-imperialist bastion. thebogotapost.com/eln-armed-st...
thebogotapost.com
ELN armed strike in Colombia ends with at least 3 dead, 13 departments affected
The National Liberation Army (ELN), a Colombian guerrilla group, concluded its 72-hour armed strike this morning, putting an end to days of tension in many parts of the country.
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
Washington today designated Colombia’s largest criminal group, the Gaitanist Army of Colombia, a “terrorist organisation”. The group is present across Colombia and involved in drug trafficking, illegal mining, and extortion. www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12...
aljazeera.com
US officially labels Colombia’s EGC group a ‘terrorist organization’
Analysts warn US 'terrorist' designation of the EGC could escalate violence and hinder peace negotiations in Colombia.
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
Breaking: the last international airlines flying to Venezuela have suspended routes to the country, days after United States President Donald Trump declared its airspace closed. www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12...
aljazeera.com
Last foreign carriers halt flights to Venezuela after Trump’s airspace ban
Copa, Wingo, Satena, and Boliviana halt Venezuela flights, citing navigation signal issues and safety concerns.
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
“The Western Hemisphere is America’s neighborhood – and we will protect it.” Monroe Doctrine, Roosevelt Corollary, but definitely not Good Neighbour Policy (except maybe backing the odd dictator in Central America). The old playbook of U.S. intervention in LatAm is back.
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
The U.S. Embassy in Bogota closed down and requested additional security Tuesday due to concerns over Palestine protests. But organizers of the peaceful protest said the U.S. response was an overreaction. amp.miamiherald.com/news/nation-...
amp.miamiherald.com
U.S. Embassy in Colombia shuts doors, bolsters security amid pro-Palestinian protests
The U.S. Embassy in Bogota closed its doors and requested additional police protection Tuesday because of security concerns over pro-Palestine protests on the anniversary of the Hamas attacks in Israe...
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
Trump's decaf decertification ends months of anxiety in #Colombia — where soaring #cocaine production has stoked fears of sweeping #U.S. sanctions — but deals a symbolic blow to a country that has historically been one of #Washington's closest allies in the region. www.npr.org/2025/09/16/n...
npr.org
For first time in decades, U.S. says Colombia is falling short in drug war
For the first time in decades, the U.S. has decertified Colombia as a drug control partner — a symbolic blow to one of Washington's closest allies in Latin America.
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
Ethnic minorities in #Colombia are disproportionately affected by the country's internal conflict but have been historically marginalised from processes aimed at ending it. As the #conflict mounts, they continue to demand a voice in negotiating #peace. www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature...
thenewhumanitarian.org
In Colombia’s Chocó, neglected ethnic groups fight for a voice in building peace
Long-marginalised Indigenous and Afro-descendant groups are demanding a greater say in how their communities can find paths out of conflict.
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 10/08/2025
Fantastic piece on the UK’s new “dissident right”: Tech bros with a disdain for women, immigrants, wokeism and, notably, the Tories.
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 09/08/2025
Peruvian gov accuses Colombian airforce plane of violating its sovereignty amid a border dispute over Santa Rosa island in the Amazon. Colombia's President Petro said yesterday he does not recognise Peru's sovereignty over the island, citing a 1922 treaty. www.eltiempo.com/mundo/latino...
eltiempo.com
Perú acusa a Colombia de invadir su espacio aéreo con avión militar sobre la isla Santa Rosa, reclamada por el presidente Gustavo Petro
El Gobierno colombiano ya pidió disculpas, pero estas no satisfacen al Ejecutivo peruano, según el primer ministro Eduardo Arana.
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
#Temu's affordability and convenience have propelled its rapid rise across #LatinAmerica, driving a region-wide transition towards e-commerce. But small businesses are being forced to adapt or die as they struggle to compete with the #Chinese site. My latest: www.straitstimes.com/world/small-...
straitstimes.com
Small businesses struggle as China’s Temu spurs more Latin Americans to shop online
Since formally launching in Colombia last May, Chinese e-commerce platform Temu has taken the country by storm, usurping Amazon to become the second-most popular shopping site after Argentine giant Me...
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
Senior #Republicans are rallying behind #Colombia's convicted ex-president Uribe. latinamericareports.com/us-proposes-...
latinamericareports.com
US proposes 50% cuts to Colombia aid budget citing Uribe trial, government drug use - Latin America Reports
The United States House Committee on Appropriations proposed a 50% reduction in its 2026 non-military aid budget for Colombia in a report last week. The bill cited a host of factors in its decision, i...
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
Child recruitment in Colombia increased 1000% from 2021-2024. This is the story of two mothers whose sons, age 13 and 16, were abducted into Colombia’s violent internal conflict. #Colombia #War #HumanRights #Noticias #News #Conflicto #LatinAmerica www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/202...
aljazeera.com
‘Never touched a gun’: Colombia fighters step up child soldier recruitment
As Colombia’s conflicts continue to escalate, criminal organisations rely on young soldiers to bolster ranks.
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
The 15-year-old who shot Miguel Uribe was offered roughly USD $4800 to carry out the attack, according to local media. The intellectual authors of the assassination attempt exploited a vulnerable child from an impoverished background to do their dirty work. #Colombia #MiguelUribe #News #Noticias
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 08/06/2025
“Essentially what we have tonight is a return to a very dark era of politics in Colombia when violence was used as a political tool at the highest level of elections," @dickinsonbeth.bsky.social @crisisgroup.org @latam.crisisgroup.org My latest for @npr.org: www.npr.org/2025/06/08/n...
npr.org
Colombian Presidential hopeful shot at Bogotá rally
A Colombian Presidential hopeful in critical condition after being shot during a campaign rally in Bogotá on Saturday. The assassination attempt is having a chilling effect in Colombia where security ...
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 08/06/2025
Assassination attempt against Colombian presidential hopeful and Senator Miguel Uribe. Uribe’s mother, Diana Turbay, was killed in 1991 after being kidnapped by Pablo Escobar. #Colombia #news #elections www.eltiempo.com/politica/par...
eltiempo.com
Atención: Miguel Uribe Turbay fue víctima de un atentado en Bogotá
El senador y precandidato presidencial recibió un disparo en Fontibón.
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
My latest for @aljazeera.com: Guatemala's Public Prosecutor yesterday issued warrants for the arrest of #Colombia's Attorney General and its ex-Defense Minister. Colombian President #Petro responded saying #Guatemala's judiciary answers to narco-traffickers. www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/6/...
aljazeera.com
Colombia rejects Guatemalan court’s arrest warrants for top officials
Colombia says that the action by Guatemalan Prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche is part of a politically motivated campaign.
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
My latest for @miamiherald.com: “The move by Colombia, traditionally one of Washington’s strongest regional allies, is the latest indication of Beijing’s growing challenge to U.S. influence in Latin America” #colombia #trump #petro #china #beltandroad #usa www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-...
miamiherald.com
Colombia joins China’s Belt and Road Initiative amid tensions with Trump
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has formalized his country’s entry into China’s Belt and Road Initiative, or New Silk Road, a sprawling geoeconomic development project that already includes over 140...
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
My latest for @miamiherald.com. “This institution is compelled by the memory of our murdered comrades to continue confronting any expression of crime" - Director of Colombian National Police. #Colombia #Escobar #Police #Crime #Policia www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-...
miamiherald.com
Wave of police killings in Colombia copies drug lord Pablo Escobar’s terror tactics
Nineteen police officers and 12 soldiers have been killed by armed groups in Colombia since April 15, in what President Gustavo Petro has called a “plan pistola” – a tactic popularized by notorious dr...
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
My latest piece on how #Trump's exaggeration of the Tren de Aragua threat in order to justify anti-immigration policies, criticise opponents and vilify #Venezuelan migrants is not a new strategy; for years, Latin American politicians have done the same. www.latintimes.com/trumps-tren-...
latintimes.com
Trump's Tren de Aragua Crackdown Takes a Leaf Out Of South America's Political Playbook
South American countries have used the Tren de Aragua as a political tool to criticize urban insecurity, stigmatize Venezuelan migrants, and justify anti-immigration policies.
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
My first piece for NPR, on the unsettling alliance between #Trump and #Bukele, an autocrat who has overseen some of Latin America's worst human rights violations in recent years and in doing so attracted the admiration of #MAGA Republicans.
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
Colombia's President has repeatedly claimed Mexican cartels are behind the country's conflict. But experts @dickinsonbeth.bsky.social of @latam.crisisgroup.org and Henry Shuldiner of InsightCrime dispute this. #Mexico #Cartel #Colombia #Petro #News #Drugs www.latintimes.com/are-mexican-...
latintimes.com
Are Mexican Cartels Behind Violence in Colombia's Conflict Zone?
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has repeatedly claimed Mexican cartels are behind violence in the country's conflict zone, but that's not accurate, experts say
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
Video from yesterday’s march in Bogotá in support of Gustavo Petro and his labour reform. #Petro #GustavoPetro #Reformalaboral #colombia #pactohistorico #news #protest #Bogota
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
My latest for @reuters.com: in his address to Congress, #DonaldTrump scoffed at #USAID programmes funding "Afro-Colombian empowerment in Central America." But in #Colombia (which is in South America) these programmes can be the difference between life and death. www.reuters.com/world/americ...
reuters.com
USAID suspension shutters Colombia programs, endangering FARC peace deal
The global suspension of USAID funding is shuttering peace and anti-gang programs in Colombia's most impoverished places, endangering implementation of the country's 2016 peace deal with leftist FARC rebels, according to officials, people working with the agency and beneficiaries.
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Decent turnout in Bogotá for the march in favour of Gustavo Petro and his labour reforms. One source tells me they were instructed by their employer to attend, but many are clearly there of their own volition. #Colombia #Petro #NoticiasColombia
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
Our visit to La Escombrera, a landfill in Medellin believed to be the site of Colombia’s largest mass grave. Pictures by Jonathan Nassif. Link to article in bio. #colombia #news #medellin #comuna13 #operationorion #conflict #conflictoarmado
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
The situation now in Tibú, Colombia: sources inside tell me that the army is bombarding ELN and FARC dissident guerrilla forces, who are pinned down. Residents in the urban sector have been told to shelter in place and fear clashes will reach them. #colombia #catatumbo #tibu #ELN #FARC
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
My latest from Quibdó, in Colombia's Pacific region. #Quibdo #Chocó #Colombia #Crime #Gangs #Petro #News #Crimen #NoticiasColombia latinamericareports.com/a-gang-truce...
latinamericareports.com
A gang truce in Colombia’s poorest city drastically cut homicide rates, but can it hold? - Latin America Reports
Quibdó, Colombia – A truce signed between three gangs in December reduced homicide rates in Quibdó, the capital of Colombia’s impoverished Chocó region, by 56%, said authorities.  Government officials...
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
My latest for Latin America Reports. #colombia #conflict #eln #farc #petro #catatumbo #tibu #ocaña latinamericareports.com/at-least-sev...
latinamericareports.com
At least seven killed on Sunday in renewed clashes in Colombia’s Catatumbo region - Latin America Reports
The conflict in Colombia’s northeast Catatumbo region flared up over the weekend with new confrontations between armed groups leaving at least seven dead.
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
In #Colombia's #Chocó Department, the arrival of the #EMC #guerrilla group stokes fears of an escalation in the long-running armed conflict between the #ELN and #EGC or #ClanDelGolfo. #PeaceProcess #PazTotal #Petro #ConflictoArmado thebogotapost.com/fears-in-cho...
thebogotapost.com
Fears in Chocó that FARC dissidents’ arrival will worsen humanitarian crisis
Quibdó, Colombia – Local officials, community leaders and residents in Colombia’s eastern Chocó department fear that the entry of a third armed group to the region will aggravate the existing humanita...
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
I was privileged to visit #Tibú, a town badly affected by the ongoing armed #conflict in #Colombia's northeast. I spoke to community leaders and residents about the situation there one month after the violence broke out. latinamericareports.com/tibu-a-town-...
latinamericareports.com
Tibú, a town at the center of Colombia’s worst humanitarian crisis in a decade - Latin America Reports
One month after violent clashes erupted in the Catatumbo region, Latin America Reports visited a town at the heart of the conflict.
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
In my latest piece for The Latin Times, I spoke to @dickinsonbeth.bsky.social and @sergioguzman.bsky.social about the deleterious impact of the #Trump military aid freeze on #Colombia’s internal security and counter-narcotics operations. www.latintimes.com/how-trumps-a...
latintimes.com
How Trump's Aid Freeze Is Threatening Colombia's Security, Anti-Drug Operations
Dozens of helicopters have already been grounded as a result of the order
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Reposted by Alfie Pannell
Elizabeth Dickinson @dickinsonbeth.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
The gravity of USAID's shuttering in #Colombia go well beyond gaps in the budget line. Programs have been shut down in a way that could endanger communities and devastate U.S. access and credibility for many years. It also stands to destabilize #Colombia's delicate security🧵
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 01/02/2025
A #US treasure hunting firm is suing #Colombia for a share of what may be the largest treasure trove in maritime history. I interviewed Yebrail Haddad, Colombia’s Director of International Defense, about the government's arguments in the #Hague. www.latintimes.com/colombia-lau...
latintimes.com
Colombia Launches Legal Defense Against U.S. Company That Claimed A Sunken Treasure Worth Billions
United States treasure hunting firm Sea Search Armada (SSA) is suing Colombia for a share of what may be the largest treasure trove in maritime history
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Alfie Pannell @alfiepannell.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
Once one of #Washington's closest allies in the region, a clash of personalities may mark a fractious turn in relations between #Colombia and the #USA. My piece for Latin America Reports: www.latinamericareports.com/despite-agre... #Petro #Trump #Tariffs #Migration #Deportation #China #AmCham
latinamericareports.com
Despite agreement on deportation flights, further spats may await US-Colombia relations - Latin America Reports
Petro, a leftist former guerrilla, and Trump, a right-wing billionaire, have little ideological common ground.
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