At 5 p.m. on Tuesday, a new chapter opened for Puerto Berrío as six barges, assisted by the towboat Barranquilla, arrived with 3,850 tons of corn, sorghum and rolls of steel, the largest load in history ever to arrive in this location. This marks the beginning of Seacor Holdings’ barge operations on the Magdalena River, and the renaissance of commercial transport along the country’s main river, with products other than hydrocarbons.

In Colombia, of 180 millions tons of cargo moved each year, only 200 million are transported along the Magdalena. The hope is that by the end of the Santos administration, the river’s navigability is fully recovered and surpassed.

Spain’s Mondadori publishing house gathered 41 of Gabriel García Marquez’ many stories and released them in one 512-page book titled ‘All the Stories’. The bad news for Colombia is that, given that Norma owns the rights to the Nobel prize-winning author’s works, it may take a while and a lot of negotiation for the book to arrive in the country.

In his first address as director of the National Police, General Jose Roberto León Riaño stressed that one of his main goals is to reinforce citizen security in Colombia and said he is confident that he will meet his goal.

He was very clear, however, when indicating that he will not be working alone. “Many are wondering what I am going to do, but what I say is ‘what are we going to do?’ Because this is undoubtedly something we are going to do together.”

In his speech, General León also praised the legacy of his predecessor, General Oscar Naranjo, and listed his ten priorities which include protecting citizens, fighting delinquency head-on, reducing theft, fighting organized crimes and reinforcing a comprehensive rural security model to guarantee return to those lands.

“If crime and delinquency don’t rest, then we won’t either.” The new director also stressed the importance of coordinated efforts with the other armed forces.

León Riaño also said there will be a massive implementation of information and communication technology in police services in an attempt to reach higher levels of effectiveness and coverage.