Colombian artist Fernando Botero with his painting ‘After Velazquez’ at the Pera Museum in Istanbul, Turkey, on May 3, 2010.
Credit: © Prometheus72/Shutterstock

Copy the Mona Lisa, but make her twelve years old and comically disproportionate! Political, original, and always interesting, Colombian artist Fernando Botero’s pieces captured attention around the world. Botero died on Friday, September 15th, 2023, at the age of 91. Botero was known for his paintings and sculptures. Round figures with comparatively small faces define his work. Botero featured satirical portrayals of powerful subjects. Satire is the use of wit to attack human conduct or institutions. Satire is used in literature and art to expose and even reform such human failings as folly, greed, or vanity. His style, known as Boterismo, shows figures of exaggerated volume with bright colors. Botero painted and sculpted animals, people, and still-life scenes of food. Still-life paintings are close-ups of objects.

‘Horse Man’ sculpture by Colombian artist Fernando Botero in Botero Square in Medellín, Colombia.
Credit: © Oscar Espinosa, Shutterstock

Botero was born in Medellín, Colombia, on April 19, 1932. His father died when he was four years old. Botero began drawing and painting in watercolors at a young age. An uncle enrolled him in a training school for bullfighting when he was 12 years old. A man who sold tickets to bullfighting began selling Botero’s drawings and paintings. At the age of 16, Botero’s first illustrations were published in El Colombiano, a newspaper in Medellín. When Botero was 20 years old, he won second prize at Bogotá’s Salón Nacional de Artistas exhibition. He then traveled to Europe to study art.

Botero studied the paintings of the Old Masters of European art in Madrid, Spain; Paris, France; and Florence, Italy. After he returned to Colombia, he entered the Biblioteca Nacional exhibition in 1955, where his art was not well received. Botero moved to Mexico City in 1956. In 1960, he won the Colombian section of the Guggenheim international exhibition. That same year, he moved to New York City. In 1961, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City bought his painting Mona Lisa, Age 12, a tribute to the Old Masters.

In 1973, Botero moved to Paris, France. While in Paris, he began sculpting figures from his paintings. Museums and galleries around the world featured Botero’s work as his popularity grew. Botero’s bronze sculptures are displayed in public spaces in Colombia, France, Israel, Spain, and the United States. Botero addressed the subject of the Colombian drug cartel in Masacre de Mejor Esquina (1997) and Death of Pablo Escobar (1999). He addressed the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American personnel in Abu Ghraib prison in a collection called Abu Ghraib (2005).

Encanto opened in the United States on Nov. 24, 2021.  The story introduces the Madrigals, a compelling and complicated extended family who live in a wondrous and charmed place in the mountains of Colombia. 
Credit: © Disney

Encanto is an animated motion picture released by the Walt Disney Company in 2021. The movie is set in Colombia and features Disney’s first entirely Latino voice cast. 

The film’s soundtrack, released in 2021, became a worldwide hit. The album spent more than a week at the number one spot on Billboard magazine‘s “200 Albums” chart. Encanto became Disney’s first animated film to have two songs in the top 10 on Billboard magazine’s “Hot 100” chart. The song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” performed in the film by Adassa, Stephanie Beatriz, Mauro Castillo, Rhenzy Feliz, Carolina Gaitán, and Diane Guerrero, reached number 2. “Surface Pressure,” performed in the film by Jessica Darrow, broke the chart’s top 10. The soundtrack featured original songs written and composed by the American musical theater composer Lin-Manuel Miranda. It also featured instrumental music by the American composer Germaine Franco. 

Encanto tells the story of the magical Madrigal family. The family was led to a safe haven and magical home known as Encanto by its matriarch (ruling mother). The Madrigals’ magic comes from the flame of a candle that gives a unique power to each descendent. The movie’s protagonist (main character), Mirabel, is the only member of the family who did not receive a magical gift. According to prophecy, it is up to her to restore the family’s magic when it starts to falter and repair the bonds among the family members.  

Members of the Madrigal family include Mirabel (voiced by Beatriz); Luisa (Darrow); Isabela (Guerrero); Pepa (Gaitán); Félix (Castillo); Dolores (recording artist Adassa); Camilo (Feliz); Bruno (John Leguizamo); and Abuela Alma (Olga Merediz, singing, and María Cecilia, speaking). Colombian singers featured in Encanto included Maluma, who provided the voice of Luisa’s love interest Mariano, and Sebastián Yatra, who sang the film’s main theme, “Dos Oruguitas.”  

The film was directed by the American screenwriter Jared Bush and the Japanese-born American animator and character designer Byron Howard. The American playwright Charise Castro Smith co-directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Bush.  

March 30, 2020

Some 15 million years ago, long after the non-bird dinosaurs and the beasts they lived alongside had gone extinct, giant creatures still walked (or swam) the Earth. Recently, the discoveries of a team of scientists led by Edwin Cadena of Del Rosario University in Colombia have been putting more of a face—or a shell, in this case—on one of these ancient giants. And, not only did the giant have a shell, but the shell had spikes! Meet Stupendemys, the titanic turtle.

Stupendemys lived during the Miocene Epoch, around 23 million to 5.3 million years ago. credit: © Jaime Chirinos

The giant aquatic (water-dwelling) Stupendemys had a big head with a sharp beak. It had four paddlelike limbs and a short tail. It probably could not withdraw its head or limbs into its large shell, as can many turtles. Its shell alone measured about 8 feet (2.4 meters) long. Stupendemys weighed about 2,500 pounds (1,150 kilograms). It and the prehistoric marine turtle Archelon were the largest turtles known to have ever lived.

Stupendemys had been known since the 1970’s from huge pieces of shells and limb bones, but no cranial (skull) material had been positively identified. Cadena’s new trove of Stupendemys fossils included skull fragments, however. Found in Colombia and neighboring Venezuela, the skull pieces matched those of previously unidentified ancient turtle remains discovered in other parts of South America, showing that Stupendemys was fairly widespread.

Some­ of the Stupendemys shells found by Cadena and his team had large forward-pointing horns at the shoulders. The scientists believe this is a case of sexual dimorphism. Sexual dimorphism is a difference in body size or shape between males and females of the same species. Males probably used these horns in combat over mates and territory. Deep gouges were often found near the Stupendemys shell horns, suggesting that males literally locked horns when fighting.

Stupendemys was not the top boss of South American waterways during the Miocene Epoch, a time in Earth’s history that lasted from 23 million to 5.3 million years ago. The turtle was likely a gentle giant, surviving on a diet of hard-shelled mollusks, fruits, and seeds. And its huge size did not grant it complete protection from predators. Giant crocodilians prowled the region at that time, including the 40-foot (12.5-meter) giant caiman Purussaurus. One Stupendemys shell found by Cadena’s team contained an embedded crocodilian tooth! It’s hard to say who came out on top in that encounter, but it was likely an epic struggle.

July 31, 2019

On Sunday, July 28, the Colombian cyclist Egan Bernal raced to his first victory in the Tour de France (Tour de Francia in Bernal’s native Spanish). Bernal is the first Colombian cyclist to win the Tour de France, and at just 22-years old, he is the youngest champion since 1909. Bernal completed the race 1 minute and 11 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher and last year’s champion, the Welsh rider Geraint Thomas. The Dutch racer Steven Kruijswijk finished third, 20 seconds behind Thomas. The Tour de France, nicknamed la Grande Boucle (the Big Loop), is one of the most popular sporting events in the world.

Colombian cyclist Egan Bernal wears the yellow leader jersey as he rides by the Arc De Triomphe near the end of the Tour de France on July 28, 2019 in Paris, France. Credit: © Justin Setterfield, Getty Images

In the race’s largely ceremonial 21st and final stage on Sunday, Bernal entered Paris wearing the leader’s distinctive yellow jersey as he coasted in a comfortable peloton (pack of riders) amid thousands of cheering fans and multiple layers of police and other security. After crossing the finish line on the famous Avenue des Champs-Élysées, a jubilant Bernal saluted his home country, which was well represented in the race: the Colombians Rigoberto Uran and Nairo Quintana also finished in the top ten.

Tour de France racers pedal through the tough mountain stages in the Alps of southeastern France. Credit: © Bogdan Cristel, Reuters

In 2019—the 106^th Tour de France—Belgium hosted the Grand Départ (Big Start) on July 6 and 7 with stages that began and ended in Brussels, the Belgian capital. The racers then biked into northern France, passing through Épernay on the way to Reims and Nancy. The racers chugged through Alsace-Lorraine before angling 143 miles (230 kilometers, the longest daily stage) to Chalon-sur-Saône on July 12. A transfer to Mâcon sent the cyclists through the regions of Auvergne and Occitanie, where the racers took a well-earned rest day in the picturesque town of Albi on July 16.

A pass through the city of Toulouse preceded the tough mountain stages in the Pyrenees along the Spanish border. A transfer to Nîmes gave the riders another rest day on July 22 ahead of a race to the Alpine town of Gap and further mountain stages to Albertville. On July 27, an air transfer took the riders to the Parisian suburb of Rambouillet, where the riders ceremoniously pedaled their way to the big finish in central Paris.

Bernal ran steadily through race, slowly advancing through the front ten. In the mountainous stage 18, Bernal crept into second behind the French cyclist Julian Alaphilippe, who had thrilled the home crowds by wearing the yellow jersey for 14 of the first 18 stages. Alaphilippe’s bid to become the first French champion since 1985 ended during the weather-shortened 19th stage, however, when he permanently fell behind Bernal (Alaphilippe finished fifth). Bernal clung to the overall lead through the tenacious 20th stage and eventually crossed the finish line with the best time of 82 hours and 57 minutes. The 2019 Tour de France began with 176 riders from all over the world, and 155 cyclists completed the grueling 2,162-mile (3,480-kilometer) race.

The Tour de France leader wears the maillot jaune (yellow jersey) for each stage he maintains the overall advantage. (This year marked the yellow jersey’s 100th anniversary—the first race took place in 1903, but the tradition of the leader’s yellow jersey did not begin until 1919.) Bernal earned the yellow jersey as well as the maillot blanc (white jersey), worn by the race’s best young rider. Romain Bardet of France earned the maillot à pois (polka dot jersey) as the race’s best climber in the tough mountain stages. The maillot vert (green jersey) went to Slovakia’s Peter Sagan as the overall leader in points (awarded for consistently high stage finishes).

The Tour de France is one of three major touring races of cycling; the others are the Giro d’Italia (every May to June in Italy) and the Vuelta a España (every August to September in Spain).

August 7, 2018

Yesterday, on August 6, Bogotá, Colombia’s capital and largest city, celebrated the 480th anniversary of its founding in 1538. One of the oldest cities founded by Europeans in South America, Bogotá is also one of the biggest. Some 8 million people call the city home. Bogotá hosts a birthday carnival every year on August 5 and 6, a raucous celebration of the city’s—and the nation’s—cultural and musical diversity.

Bogotá sits high in the Andes Mountains of central Colombia. The city was founded 480 years ago on Aug. 6, 1538. Credit: © Stone from Getty Images

Bogotá’s birthday carnival centers on the city’s Simón Bolívar Park, and parades teeming with dancers and musicians in vibrant costumes spiral into the nearby streets. Aromas of ajiaco—the city’s traditional chicken and potato soup—compete with stuffed arepas and empanadas for revelers’ culinary attentions. The Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra plays a more subdued free concert in the city’s main square, the Plaza de Bolívar, and individual parties take place in every barrio (neighborhood). At sunset, fireworks erupt from atop the 643-foot- (196-meter-) high Torre Colpatria, Colombia’s tallest completed building. The south tower of the nearby BD Bacatá complex (scheduled to open later this year) looks down on the Colpatria by about 210 feet (64 meters). Bacatá is the Muisca Indian word for the region that gave Bogotá its name.

Bogotá was founded as Santa Fe de Bogotá in 1538 by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, a Spanish military leader who conquered the area’s Muisca and Chibcha Indians. In the early 1700′s, the city became the capital of the Viceroyalty of New Granada. The viceroyalty consisted of what are now Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama. In 1830, Bogotá became the capital of independent New Granada, later renamed Colombia.

The Santamaría bullring, shown here, is one of Bogotá’s key points of interest. The Park Towers, designed by Colombian architect Rogelio Salmona, rise beside the bullring. Credit: © Jess Kraft, Shutterstock

Bogotá lies on a plateau about 8,660 feet (2,640 meters) above sea level, in the Andes Mountains in central Colombia. The steep mountains that surround much of Bogotá give the city a dramatic physical setting. One peak is crowned with a figure of Jesus Christ, another with a cross, and a third with a shining white convent. Cable cars travel between the city and the top of Monserrate, a mountain that is a popular observation point. A mansion at the foot of the mountain once belonged to the South American general Simón Bolívar. It is now a museum that displays items relating to Bolívar and South America’s struggle for independence.

At the center of Bogotá is the Plaza de Bolívar. It is surrounded by historic buildings, including the Cathedral; the Archbishop’s Palace; Liévano Palace, which houses the mayor’s office; and the Capitol. Nearby, mansions from the Spanish colonial era, which lasted from the 1500′s to the early 1800′s, line the narrow streets. The Gold Museum has a collection of about 35,000 gold works of art crafted by Indians before the Spaniards arrived.

November 28, 2017

One year ago today, on Nov. 28, 2016, LaMia Flight 2933 crashed in the mountains of northwestern Colombia, killing 71 people. The dead included nearly the entire Chapecoense soccer team from Chapecó, Brazil. The disaster broke the hearts of family, friends, and fans alike. Today, soccer stadiums throughout South America went silent to remember the dead on the crash’s first anniversary.

On Dec. 3, 2016, Brazilian air force members carry the coffin of a Chapecoense player during a memorial service for the team’s players, coaches, and staff killed in the crash of Flight 2933. Brazilian President Michel Temer was among the more than 20,000 mourners at the rain-soaked service at Chapecó’s Arena Condá. Credit: © Buda Mendes, Getty Images

Brazilians refer to soccer as o jogo bonito (the beautiful game). The phrase was popularized by Brazilian soccer superstar Pelé, who played for Santos FC (Football Club) in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Santos, located in a suburb of São Paolo, has long been one of the best teams in Brazil’s top league, the Campeonato Brasileiro (Brazilian Championship). Chapecoense is a league rival of Santos, but low-budget Chapecoense is virtually starless and has earned few honors. In 2016, however, the team—often called Chape—had a fine season and made an unlikely run through the Copa Sudamericana, an annual tournament among the best professional soccer clubs of South America. In November, Chape was preparing to play for the Copa championship for the first time in team history. The club and its fans were understandably excited as the team left home for the opening match against Atlético Nacional at its home park in Medellín, Colombia. Chape took a commercial flight from São Paolo to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, where the team picked up a charter flight to Medellín with LaMia, a small local airline. That flight never made it to José María Córdova International Airport, however; the plane crashed in the mountains short of its destination on the night of Nov. 28, 2016. The crash killed 71 of the 77 people on board. The flight roster included players, coaches and staff, aircrew, journalists, and guests.

The crash wiped out nearly the entire Chape team and devastated the families and fans back in Chapecó. The disaster also rattled the entire soccer world, where teams regularly fly to distant matches and—like most people who travel routinely—take flight safety for granted. Teams all around the world honored Chapecoense by observing a minute of silence before matches, and many teams in South America added Chape patches to their own team uniforms. Atlético Nacional—Chape’s would-be opponents in the Copa final—insisted that Chapecoense be named that year’s tournament champion, and on December 5, it was. Like Chape, Nacional had never won the Copa Sudamericana.

LaMia Flight 2933 took off from Santa Cruz de la Sierra at 6:18 p.m. local time—it was running a bit late. To make up time, the pilot scrubbed a scheduled refueling stop at Cobija on Bolivia’s northern border. A Bolivian aviation official urged the pilot to keep the original flight plan because the 4 hour and 22 minute nonstop journey to Medellín was the same length as the plane’s maximum flight range. The pilot ignored the official, as well as an international rule requiring aircraft to carry enough fuel for 30 minutes of flight beyond the destination.

As Flight 2933 neared Medellín, its scheduled touchdown was delayed to allow another flight to make an emergency landing. Just minutes after entering a holding pattern, the pilot began requesting help from air traffic controllers. In distress, he reported that the plane was “in total failure, total electrical failure, without fuel.” Contact with Flight 2933 was then lost.

At 9:59 p.m. local time—4 hours and 41 minutes after takeoff—Flight 2933 crashed into Cerro Gordo mountain near La Unión, a town just southeast of Medellín. Rescuers arrived soon after, finding wreckage strewn over an area 330 feet (100 meters) in diameter. The plane had split in two upon impact, but it did not explode or burn: there was no remaining fuel. Ironically, the empty fuel tanks allowed six people to survive the crash: three players, two aircrew (a flight attendant and a flight technician), and one journalist. Blame for the crash fell on the pilot of LaMia Flight 2933, who was also a part owner in the charter airline. Bolivia suspended LaMia’s operating certificate after the crash, and legal action was taken against several LaMia executives.

On December 3, more than 20,000 people attended a memorial service at Chapecó’s Arena Condá, Chapecoense’s home stadium. In a steady downpour, coffins containing the bodies of the Chape players, coaches, and staff killed in the crash were carried into the stadium and placed upon a platform beneath a banner reading “Força Chape” (Strength to Chape). The mourners, most bedecked in Chape’s green and white colors, then formed an immense line that wound through the stadium as people paid final, close-up tributes to the players who had meant so much to them.

On Jan. 21, 2017, a reconstituted Chapecoense returned to the pitch to begin a new season. The team received its Copa Sudamericana champions medals at an emotional ceremony that also remembered the dead of Flight 2933. Chape crash survivors Alan Ruschel (recovered from spinal surgery) and Hélio Neto (who suffered severe trauma to his lungs, skull, and thorax) have since rejoined the team. Goalkeeper Jakson Follmann, who lost a leg in the crash, hopes to represent Brazil in paralympic soccer.

September 8, 2017

On Wednesday, September 6, Pope Francis (Papa Francisco in Spanish) arrived in Bogotá, Colombia, for a five-day apostolic journey to the South American nation. Apostolic is another word for papal or having to do with the pope. Hundreds of thousands of people turned out to welcome the pope, who is particularly popular in the mostly Roman Catholic nations of Latin America. Francis is from Argentina and has been leader of the Roman Catholic Church since 2013.

Pope Francis and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos talk during ceremonies at Casa de Nariño, the presidential palace in Bogotá, Colombia, on Sept.7, 2017. Credit: © Raul Arboleda, AFP/Getty Images

Yesterday, September 7, Francis met with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos at Casa de Nariño, the presidential palace in Bogotá, where he congratulated the Nobel Peace Prize winner on ending a decades-long civil war between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The FARC formed in the mid-1960′s as a guerrilla group with Communist ideals. Santos oversaw a peace process that culminated in a historic treaty with the FARC in November 2016. A month later, Santos accepted an invitation from Francis and visited the pope at Vatican City. The pope then promised to go to Colombia in return.

The theme of Francis’s Colombian journey is Demos el primer paso (Take the first step), a reference to the peacemaking process in Colombia—which is not yet complete. Violent drug cartels still reign in pockets of the country, and a second revolutionary group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), is still conducting peace talks with the government.

Yesterday afternoon, Francis visited the Catedral Primada (Primary Cathedral) in Bogotá’s teeming Bolívar Square, and he delivered a blessing from the the Cardinal’s Palace next door. Francis then held an outdoor Mass before more than 1 million worshipers at the city’s Simon Bolívar Park. Today, September 8, Pope Francis is in the central city of Villavicencio for a Mass and the beatification of Jesús Emilio Jaramillo Monsalve and Pedro María Ramírez Ramos, priests who were both assassinated during times of violence in Colombia. Beatification is the declaration by papal decree that a dead person is among the blessed in heaven and deserves religious honor.

Tomorrow, Francis’s visit to the northwestern city of Medellín will include a Mass and a stop at the Hogar San José orphanage. Francis will wrap up the apostolic journey on Sunday in the Caribbean coast city of Cartagena, where events will include services at the church and plaza of San Pedro Claver. The church contains the preserved remains of San Pedro Claver (1581-1654), a priest who dedicated his life to helping enslaved peoples of Spanish America. He is the patron saint of slaves and also a patron saint of the nation of Colombia.

Francis is the first pope from Latin America and the first Jesuit pope. Jesuits are members of a religious order called the Society of Jesus. Francis is known for his commitment to social justice, especially for the poor; his humble lifestyle; and his conservative religious beliefs. This was his fifth visit to Latin America since becoming pope. His previous stops were in Brazil; Bolivia, Ecuador, and Paraguay; Cuba; and Mexico.

April 3, 2017

In the early morning hours of Saturday, April 1, flooding and rocky mudslides engulfed parts of the city of Mocoa in mountainous southern Colombia. Mocoa is the capital of Putumayo, a department that runs along the border with Ecuador and Peru. Unusually heavy rains Friday night flooded the area’s Mocoa, Mulata, and Sangoyaco rivers. Steep ravines and gullies channeled the liquid mud and debris-filled water toward sleeping Mocoa. Entire homes disappeared and streets collapsed as boulders and fallen trees lodged against cars, washing machines, and shattered masonry wrenched away in the powerful torrent. The dead bodies of 301 people have been found, but more than 200 people remain missing.

Survivors contemplate the damage done by flooding and mudslides in the southern Colombian city of Mocoa on April 2, 2017. Credit: © Luis Robayo/AFP/Getty Images

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos declared a state of emergency as he arrived in Mocoa. “The entire capacity of the state is deployed to support the search and rescue,” he said. “The tragedy of Mocoa hurts me as president and as a human being. My heartfelt condolences to each family of the victims.” Santos blamed climate change for the disaster, saying Mocoa received one-third of its normal monthly rain the night before the disaster. Nevertheless, landslides and flooding occur fairly frequently in mountainous Putumayo. In Quechua, the language of the Inca and other people of the Andes Mountains, putumayo means gushing river. But this year’s rains have been particularly bad, in Colombia as well as in neighboring Ecuador and Peru, where flooding and landslides have killed more than 100 people in recent weeks.

More than 1,500 rescue workers, including police, soldiers, and volunteers, are in Mocoa to help clear debris, look for survivors, and try to keep order. Panic and distress have compounded the problems created by the lack of drinking water, food, medicine, and electric power. The Colombian Red Cross warned of poor sanitary conditions and the threat of disease. Many roads are blocked with debris, and bridges have been washed away, making transportation difficult at best. Getting supplies in–and dead bodies out–remains a top priority.

December 8, 2016

Last week, on November 30, Colombia’s Congress ratified a revised version of a historic peace deal between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a guerrilla group with Communist ideals. The agreement officially ended more than half a century of civil war that claimed the lives of over 220,000 people and displaced millions of others. The ratification began a period of six months during which FARC is expected to disarm and form a political party. The government also faces the task of passing laws to implement provisions of the deal.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos prepares to sign a peace agreement ending decades of conflict with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The signing ceremony took place at the Teatro Colón in Bogotá, the capital, on Nov. 24, 2016. Credit: © César Carrión, GIS (Government Information System)

An original peace agreement, signed in September, was rejected by a small majority of Colombians in a referendum (direct public vote) held October 2. Opponents of this agreement, which was negotiated from 2012 to 2016, said it was too lenient on former FARC rebels. For example, it provided that guerrillas who confessed to crimes would not serve traditional jail time and guaranteed FARC representation in Congress for several years. Days after the referendum, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos was awarded the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end the civil war. In announcing the prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee expressed its hope that the award would give Santos strength to continue the peace process.

Government and FARC representatives returned to the negotiating table to craft a revised deal as a fragile cease-fire kept the country peaceful. The government also consulted critics of the original agreement so it could take into account their concerns and reach an agreement with broader support. On November 12, the government and FARC announced they had reached a revised deal, which they signed on November 24. The new agreement was submitted to Colombia’s Congress for approval rather than subjected to a second referendum. The Senate voted 75-0 in favor of the deal on November 29, and the lower house approved it, 130-0, the next day. Legislators of the conservative Democratic Center party, led by former President Álvaro Uribe, boycotted both votes. Although the new agreement included dozens of changes, the political opposition maintained that it was too lenient and should have been subject to a referendum. Significantly divisive issues included the lack of conventional jail sentences and FARC’s participation in politics.

Lawmakers faced the challenge of implementing the agreement as quickly as possible, while thousands of armed FARC members remained in transition between guerrilla and civilian life. The killing of two FARC members by Colombian security forces on November 16, days after negotiators reached a final agreement, illustrated the necessity of a timely resolution.

October 19, 2016

In the Serranía de la Macarena mountain range of south-central Colombia, a river sparkles and dazzles with such vivid colors that it is known alternatively as the “River of Five Colors” or the “Liquid Rainbow”—even “the river that ran away from paradise.” Officially called the Caño Cristales (Crystal Spout), the river’s iridescent waters glitter bright red, orange, yellow, green, and purple as they splash over feisty rapids and waterfalls and swirl in whirling pits.

The waters of Colombia’s Caño Cristales bloom with vibrant color each autumn. Credit: Mario Carvajal (licensed under CC BY 3.0)

The river’s colors come from black rocks, green algae, yellow sands, and blue waters, but the distinctive vibrant red—the key ingredient in this liquid rainbow—comes from a tropical riverweed called macarenia clavigera that has adapted to the river’s rushing waters and rocky riverbed. These aquatic plants bloom only for a couple months between the region’s wet and dry seasons, however. So for much of the year, the Caño Cristales runs the ho-hum colors of white, brown, and mossy green. Macarenia clavigera requires certain specific conditions—precise levels of water and sunlight—to thrive and take on its bright hues. From late summer into autumn, the Caño Cristales is one of the few places on Earth that meets these conditions.

Colombia lies at the northwestern tip of South America. The country has a remarkably diverse topography with deserts, jungles, snow-capped mountains, plains, and rain forests, as well as beaches on both the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. The Caño Cristales is just one of the nation’s large number of beautiful natural features. The river runs through a remote area of the Serranía de la Macarena National Park, about 125 miles (200 kilometers) south of Bogotá, the Colombian capital. No roads reach the river, and it can only be visited on foot or horseback—or, more often, donkey-back. The Caño Cristales is a tributary of the Guayabero River, which in turn is a tributary of the Orinoco.