Olympic silver medalist, Rigoberto Urán, didn’t take much of a break after the Olympic Games in London. He didn’t even make it to Colombia to celebrate but says he was thrilled to see how much people in the country celebrated his achievement.

“I didn’t feel bad not being in Colombia because I knew that the Vuelta a España is where I needed to be, with my team Sky,” the Olympian said.

In Spain, Urán is in sixth place overall, just 11 seconds behind the leader, Spaniard Joaquim Purito Rodriguez.  German cyclist, John Degenkolb won stage 5, with Colombian Leonardo Duque in ninth place. Stage six, 175,4 Kilometers between Tarazona and Jaca, will be run tomorrow.

It’s finally official: Lady Gaga will be performing in Colombia. The concert, however, will be in Bogotá and not Medellín as it had been previously rumored.

On November 9th, Mother Monster will bring her Born This Way Ball to the El Campin Stadium; this is the pop diva’s third world tour. AV Villas account holders will have access to early ticket sales on August 27th, but the general public will have to wait until the 30th.

Ticket prices will range from 142,000 to 422,000 pesos, but considering Lady Gaga’s reputation for over-the-top, extravagant  performances, they’re sure to be well worth the price.

When a person drinks a glass of wine from a bottle but didn’t witness it being opened, or smokes a cigarette without seeing the box it came from, he or she could inadvertently be supporting contraband, an illegal practice that is costing Colombia’s departments at least 800,000 million pesos a year.

The Anti-Corruption Program led by the Federation of Departments is campaigning to demonstrate that smuggling is a real problem and counts as organized crime, it mustn’t be viewed as something normal and routine.

Colombia’s House of Representatives elected Jorge Armando Otálora as the new Ombudsman, or People’s Defender, with 126 out of 144 votes. Otálora was chosen despite a pending investigation against him for allegedly providing legal counsel to pyramid scheme, DMG.

Eyebrows have been raised over political partnerships formed to elect Otálora, which seemingly disregarded an in-depth analysis to select the best resume and focused instead on protecting said alliances.

The People’s Defender oversees and promotes respect for human rights but doesn’t impose sanctions in case of violations, therefore his ability to intervene becomes key in his quest for justice, and Otálora’s ability in particular has been brought into question.

Almost 4,000 children from Medellín’s lower-income families are students at a Good Start (Buen Comienzo) Preschool, a program that began when Sergio Fajardo was mayor, continued during the Alonso Salazar administration and lives on with current mayor, Anibal Gaviria, who is working to strengthen it and seems to be happiest when he is participating in the opening of one of these schools.

Just this year, he has helped open three new schools, for a total of 11 in the past three years, and six more are scheduled to open soon. These early childhood educational facilities are located in “strategic areas, where children are vulnerable, not just because of insecurity but also inequality. That’s where we want children to have different opportunities,” said First Lady of Medellín, Claudia Márquez, who has taken over the program during her husband’s administration.

Despite criticism from former President Alvaro Uribe about what could become a dialogue between the Government and Farc in Cuba, the head of state has a responsibility to find paths that lead to peace.

Colombia’s presidents have a history of attempting to find ways to achieve peace by negotiating terms with illegal armed groups. In this particular case, while “some silence could be good”, according to former High Peace Commissioner Victor G. Ricardo, now would be a good time to “clear up the situation so the comments cease” especially with all the talk generated by Uribe’s comments.

However, Ricardo explained, “peace cannot be handled through the media, war is fought in the media, not peace.”