Bogota

Private financing is leading a boom in documentaries -- as evidenced by the record number screened at the 36th Toronto International Film Festival, wrapping up on Sunday.

BOGOTA (Reuters) - High-profile kidnappings, oil pipeline bombings, murders, extortion and now a surge in blockades -- just another day in Colombia's booming oil industry.

CARACAS (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday accused four Venezuelan officials of helping to provide arms to drug-running Colombian guerrillas, a charge Venezuela's left-wing government dismissed as "abusive."

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Protesters battled riot police with rocks and homemade bombs on Thursday in a protest against Colombia's fourth-largest oil producer, Petrominerales Ltd, forcing the Canadian firm to suspend output.

Thousands of students and teachers marched in Bogota and other cities across Colombia on Wednesday to push for a major increase in education funding.

More than 50 members of Colombia's "Bandas Criminales" drug gangs have been indicted on US charges they used planes or custom-built submarines for cocaine smuggling, US and Colombian officials said Friday.

BOGOTA (Reuters) - A criminal gang capable of smuggling 10 tonnes of cocaine a month for Mexico's bloody Sinaloa cartel has been dismantled following the arrest of 36 suspects, Colombian authorities said on Friday.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The hard-working maids of "The Help" hung on to the top of a storm-battered box office over the weekend and beat a trio of new releases with $14.3 million in domestic ticket sales, studio estimates released on Sunday showed.

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's capital city lures tourists with its mild year-round weather, booming nightlife and its museums about gold, emeralds and the artist Fernando Botero.

Brazil beat Mexico and Portugal ousted France, both by 2-0 scorelines, on Wednesday to set up a mouthwatering under-20s World Cup final.

Portugal advanced to the semi-finals of the U20 World Cup with a dramatic 5-4 penalty shootout victory over favourites Argentina as Mexico also booked their berth by beating hosts Colombia 3-1.

Colombia said Tuesday it was awaiting word from Indonesia to extradite the ex-treasurer of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's party after weeks on the run over corruption allegations.

The ex-treasurer of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's party has been arrested in Colombia after weeks on the run over corruption allegations, police said Monday.

BOGOTA (Reuters) - A roadside bomb killed one oil worker and wounded six people in an attack in a violent southern province of Colombia, the country's vice president said Wednesday.

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian authorities have captured two leaders of a 20-ton-per-year cocaine operation that sent drug-laden submarines to the world's top drug consumer, the United States, local police said Tuesday.

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Five Colombian oil contractors kidnapped by FARC guerrillas were freed on Sunday after military pressure to rescue the hostages, a senior army officer said.

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Suspected Colombian guerrillas kidnapped five oil workers for companies contracted by Occidental Petroleum in the eastern part of the Andean nation, the army and the company said on Saturday.

Colombia's Constitutional Court on Tuesday mandated the legal recognition of gay couples. Colombia's Constitutional Court on Tuesday mandated the legal recognition of gay couples. A majority of the 9-judge panel agreed that gay and lesbian couples have the right to form a family and gave Congress two years to legislate on gay unions, Bogota-based El Tiempo reported. ?If by the 20th of July, 2013 Congress has not acted, gay couples can go to a notary and with the same solemnity of a heterosexual marriage enter a union similar to one between a heterosexual couple,? said Judge Juan Carlos Henao, the court's president. Whether the ruling means full marriage for gay couples remains to be seen. ?The name of the institution, be it civil marriage or otherwise, will be up to Congress,? the court said. The nation's Roman Catholic bishops last week urged the court to uphold Colombia's current law that restricts marriage to heterosexual couples. Last year, Argentina became the first Latin American

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian singer and composer Joe Arroyo, one of the leading lights of the Andean nation's music scene since the 1970s, died on Tuesday from multiple organ failure, a medical clinic said.

BOGOTA (Reuters) - The leader of one of Colombia's most powerful criminal groups was gunned down by his own bodyguards Monday in the drug-plagued Antioquia province, police said.