Politics General News

Abelardo de la Espriella Wins Colombian Presidency, but Now Comes the Hard Part

Medellin Herald June 22, 2026

With 100% of the nearly 26-million ballots tallied throughout Colombia on June 21, 48-year-old profesional lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella captured 12.95 million votes (49.66%) — almost 1% more than the 12.7 million (48.7%) votes cast for his opponent, Senator Ivan Cepeda. The vote totals

General News

Colombian Democracy Seen Winning as 60% Reject Leftist Threat

Medellin Herald June 1, 2026

More than 20 million Colombian voters went to the polls yesterday (31 May) to decide which two leading Presidential candidates (out of an initial field of a dozen) will face-off in the final runoff election on June 21. The clear winner yesterday was right-of-center and democracy-defending candidate Abelardo de la Espriella, with 43.7% of the […]

Culture Medellin + Antioquia news Tourism

Medellín’s Comuna 13 Neighborhood: Global Tourist Destination Despite Violent Past

Medellin Herald February 5, 2026

In 2002 – 24 years ago – Medellín’s San Javier (Comuna 13) neighborhood was a center of extorsion, kidnapping, murders and narco turf wars run by pseudo-communist gangsters including FARC, ELN and the “People’s Armed Commandos,” as well as pseudo-right-wing paramilitaries. Caught in the middle of this nightmare were tens of thousands of Colombia’s poorest […]

Infrastructure Medellin + Antioquia news

‘Magdalena 2’ Highway Completion Links Antioquia with Cartagena Ports

Medellin Herald November 11, 2025

Colombia’s national infrastructure agency (Agencia Nacional de Infraestructura, ANI) announced November 10 the long-awaited completion of the “Magdalena 2” highway linking Antioquia with Colombia’s giant ocean ports at Cartagena. “With the opening of [the final] 35 kilometers between Remedios and Vegachí, the government puts the 4G [fourth-generation] Magdalena River

Health & Insurance. Uncategorized

Sura EPS Health Network Going Kaput, Leaving Millions in Limbo

Medellin Herald May 29, 2024

Medellin-based health-network-insurance provider Sura EPS – one of Colombia’s biggest EPS organizations, with 5.4 million members – announced May 28 that it has just begun the process to exit the health-insurance market, effectively due to government financial strangulation. The move comes as Sura EPS — a subsidiary of Medellin-based multinational insurance giant

Schools

Colegio Theodoro Hertzl School Reports 2 Antisemitic Incidents

Medellin Herald February 28, 2024

Colegio Theodoro Hertzl – a nominally Jewish primary/secondary school in the Medellin suburb of Envigado, well-known for its outstanding scholarship, multiculturalism, peacefulness and tolerance – announced February 27 a pair of antisemitic incidents, but fortunately these didn’t involve violence. According a statement from Hertzl school’s rector, Nidia Londoño

Culture Medellin + Antioquia news

Amazing Work of Art in Venecia, Antioquia: Colossal, Folkloric, Quixotic

Medellin Herald December 16, 2023

Medellin-based professional architect Luis Fernando Betancur has over the last 18 years gradually developed what can only be described as an astonishing work of art — delighting thousands of visitors to the Santuario de San Jose church in Venecia, Antioquia (about two-hours-drive southwest of Medellin). This world-record, 260-square-meters work-of-art in the

General News Infrastructure

New Antioquia Governor Promises Alternative Financing to Complete ‘4G’ Highways, Amend Hidroituango Contract

Medellin Herald November 1, 2023

Newly elected Antioquia Governor Andrés Julián Rendón promised in an interview published today (November 1) in the Medellin-based daily newspaper El Colombiano that he has already come up with several ways to finance completion of the crucial “4G” highways linking Medellin to-and-from Atlantic and Pacific freight ports. Current Colombia President Gustavo Petro —

Health & Insurance.

Colombia’s Sura, Sanitas, Compensar EPS Networks Warn Health Ministry of Imminent Financial ‘Collapse’

Medellin Herald August 22, 2023

Medellin-based private-sector health-network provider EPS Sura along with EPS Sanitas and Compensar EPS jointly announced in a new letter to Colombia Health Minister Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo (see photo, above) that they face shut-down as early as late September unless the Health Ministry takes urgent measures to shore-up their deteriorating financial situations. If

General News

Medellin Metro Public Transit System Continues to Grow, Improve

Medellin Herald March 21, 2023

Medellin’s world-famous “Metro” transit system – featuring electric railcars, electric roadway trams, electric aerial tramways carrying passengers up steep mountainsides, natural-gas-powered bus rapid transit (BRT) systems and free bicycles adjacent to Metro stations – mobilized 258 million passengers in 2015, up 9.8% year-on-year. According to a March 18 annual report