International
Colombia’s new ombudsman will prioritize gender violence on her agenda
Colombia’s new ombudsman, Iris Marín, will prioritize gender violence and discrimination against women as one of the main axes of her agenda, which will develop over four years of management.
“I want to emphasize that, unfortunately, one of the human rights crises is the crisis of violence and discrimination against women,” said the defender, who took office on September 1 and is the first woman to occupy this position, at a press conference in Bogotá.
Marín assured in the framework of the celebration of the National Human Rights Day that sexist violence is not usually seen “as a human rights crisis” because when thinking about human rights in Colombia “they think of war, but they don’t even think about gender violence.”
Between May 2023 and May 2024, 630 femicides were recorded in Colombia and, so far this year, the National Institute of Health has registered more than 100,000 cases of gender violence, whether physical, sexual, neglect or psychological abandonment. In addition, in 2023 the Institute of Legal Medicine carried out more than 20,000 examinations for alleged sexual offense, of which 14,366 were for children under 18 years of age.
Therefore, since his administration in the Ombudsman’s Office, he wants to strengthen protection programs, access to justice, issue early warnings for gender violence and improve the technical defense of victims.
Other axes of its agenda will be to monitor human rights in the conflict, in climate change and will place special emphasis on the rights of minors.
Since 2017, the Ombudsman’s Office has issued 320 early alerts in territories due to the situation of violence, of which 143 are still active. This is a system that was implemented after the peace agreement to alert the institutions of a possible aggravation of the conflict and the danger of communities.
In addition, until the end of August, 166 social leaders were murdered in Colombia and the defender considered that “the situation of protection of leaders is not improving,” so she hopes that the Ombudsman’s Office will serve as prevention and that “it is a neutral actor to promote that humanitarian agreements can be adopted in a low-profile way.”
In this sense, Marín asked that the Ombudsman’s Office be taken into account in the peace processes with armed groups and was emphatic in pointing out that the people who signed the peace agreement and then deserted, the Government “must demand the consequences of having returned to arms.”
“There should be no incentives to enter infinite circles of negotiation and return to arms,” Marín said, without referring but alluding to the negotiations that the Government has just undertaken with the Second Marquetalia, a dissent commanded by ‘Iván Márquez’, who in turn was a peace negotiator of the FARC in the 2016 agreement.
International
Pope Leo XIV signals focus on social justice and AI challenges
Pope Leo XIV explained on Saturday that he chose his papal name to reflect a strong commitment to social causes in response to the challenges posed by the new industrial revolution and the rise of artificial intelligence.
The new leader of the Catholic Church, born in the United States and naturalized Peruvian, has drawn global attention since his election on Thursday. In a speech to the College of Cardinals, the 69-year-old pontiff said the choice of his name was inspired by Pope Leo XIII, known for championing workers’ rights during the 19th century.
“I considered taking the name Leo XIV. There are several reasons, but the main one is that Pope Leo XIII, through his historic encyclical Rerum Novarum, addressed the social question during the first great industrial revolution,” said the new pope.
The 1891 encyclical, which translates roughly to “new things” or “innovations,” is considered the foundation of the Catholic Church’s social doctrine, emphasizing human dignity, solidarity, and the common good.
“Today, the Church offers its body of social teaching to help respond to another industrial revolution and to developments in artificial intelligence, which bring new challenges for defending human dignity, justice, and labor,” he added.
In the first Mass of his pontificate on Friday, the former missionary from Chicago—who served as a bishop in Peru—lamented the decline of faith in favor of “money,” “power,” and “pleasure.”
Following his election as spiritual leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, Robert Francis Prevost has gradually revealed his pastoral style. On Thursday night, during his first public appearance from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, he addressed the crowd in both Italian and Spanish.
Central America
Former Panama President Ricardo Martinelli flees to Colombia after 15 months in Nicaraguan embassy
Former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli traveled to Colombia on Saturday after being granted asylum, ending a 15-month stay in the Nicaraguan embassy where he had taken refuge to avoid serving an almost 11-year prison sentence for money laundering, Panama’s Foreign Ministry announced.
The Panamanian government “granted the necessary safe conduct” for the “safe departure of the asylee, Panamanian citizen Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Berrocal,” to Colombia, whose government had approved his asylum request, the ministry said in a statement.
The 73-year-old right-wing former leader had been living in the Nicaraguan embassy since February 7, 2024, shortly after his conviction was upheld for using public funds to acquire a media group during his 2009–2014 presidency.
Martinelli, also a supermarket chain owner, left the embassy in a diplomatic vehicle and was taken to an airport from which he departed to Colombia, according to the statement, which did not provide further details.
In March, President José Raúl Mulino — a right-wing politician who won the May 5, 2024 elections largely due to Martinelli’s popularity — authorized safe conduct for Martinelli to travel to Managua. However, the Nicaraguan government, led by Daniel Ortega, refused to accept him, citing Panama’s failure to guarantee that the former leader was not subject to an Interpol red notice.
Despite his legal troubles, Martinelli remained highly popular in Panama and was the frontrunner in the 2024 presidential race until his conviction disqualified him. His close ally, Mulino, ultimately took his place as candidate and won the presidency.
International
Pope Leo XIV’s roots in Peru inspire hope for Amazon protection
The bishop sat silently near the front row, hands clasped, as Indigenous leaders and Church workers spoke about the threats facing the forests of northern Peru, deep within the Amazon. It was 2016, one year after Laudato Si, Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment.
When it was his turn to speak, the bishop didn’t preach—even though the gathering was taking place in his own city, Chiclayo, where he was hosting a regional meeting. Instead, he reflected on what he had witnessed.
“I believe it’s a very important encyclical,” he said. “It also marks a new step in the Church’s explicit expression of concern for all of creation.”
That bishop, Robert Prevost, is now Pope Leo XIV.
“He was always warm and approachable,” recalled Laura Vargas, secretary of the Interreligious Council of Peru, who helped organize the event, in a phone interview with The Associated Press.
“He had a strong interest in a socially engaged ministry, very close to the people. That’s why, when we proposed holding the event in his diocese, he welcomed it without hesitation,” she added.
Since then, Prevost has strengthened ties with environmental interfaith networks like the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative and Indigenous organizations such as AIDESEP, which place forest protection and rights at the heart of Church concerns.
These credentials have given hope to clergy and the faithful across the Amazon region—a vast area of 48 million people and 6.7 million square kilometers (2.6 million square miles) in South America. Many see Prevost, who was born in Chicago and spent nearly two decades in rural Peru, as a pope who will protect the region and stand up to climate change.
Pope Leo XIV signals focus on social justice and AI challenges
Former Panama President Ricardo Martinelli flees to Colombia after 15 months in Nicaraguan embassy
Pope Leo XIV’s roots in Peru inspire hope for Amazon protection
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