Bogota named tourist hotspot by USA Today

Colombia's capital received high praise as a top tourist destination from newspaper USA Today, which published an article Friday claiming that Bogota has moved "beyond its bad-boy image."

The newspaper praises the capital city for the changes made to its reputation, from narco-hotspot to tourist-friendly culture capital.

"Strange and wonderful doings are afoot in this city," writes travel journalist Jayne Clark, "that not so long ago was a touristic no-man's land."

Clark lists the city's most appealing attractions, such as its wealth of art installations - like the ants that swarmed over Colombian Congress last month - and the weekly

Pope authorized Colombian letter of support over pedophile cover up

Pope John Paul II authorized a letter of support sent by Colombian cardinal Dario Castrillon to a French bishop who had decided not to report a sexually abusive priest to the police, the cardinal says.

The cardinal had come under fire after the letter wherein he praises bishop Pierre Pican for his response to the rape charges and had called him an example for other members of the church.

"I congratulate you for not denouncing a priest to the civil administration," the now-Medellin cardinal wrote in the letter. "You have acted well and I am pleased

Army seizes two tons of FARC explosives

The Colombian army claims it seized two tons of explosives in the north of the Antioquia department. The explosives allegedly belong to the FARC.

According to the army, the explosives were found near the town of San Francisco and later detonated to be destroyed.

Aside from the explosives, the Army, together with investigators of the Prosecutor General's Office, found "other elements" belonging to the FARC.

"The material was to be used to carry out attacks against the security forces, the civilian population and to produce more than 3,000 anti personel mines."

The army says that it seized nine

Colombia replaces Venezuela trade with new markets

The president of Colombia's National Business Association, Luis Carlos Villegas, announced Friday that the country has found new markets for almost $2 billion worth of products previously exported to Venezuela, El Espectador reported Friday.

A program was established by the association earlier this year to find alternative destinations for products previously exported to Venezuela, after the socialist nation cut trade agreements with Colombia due to escalating diplomatic tensions between the two countries.

Now, according to Villegas, the program is close to recovering the $2 billion-worth of lost sales by seeking new markets. The lost revenue should be recovered by June this year.

Colombia's oil production to hit record high in 2010

Ronald Pantin, president of Canadian oil firm Pacific Rubiales, expects Colombia's oil production to hit 800,000 bpd this year, and even surpass its record high of 825,000 bpd, reached in 1999, La Republica reported Thursday.

"Later this year it should break the historic production. In fact, Colombia is aimed at one million barrels," Pantin said.

Director of the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH), Armando Zamora, backed this prediction, saying that "sometime in 2010 or 2011 we will reach record levels of oil production in the country."

By 2015, Colombia's oil output could hit 1.3 million bpd, including 1.1

Olimpica boss denies Walmart deal

Alejandro Char, mayor of the Colombian coastal city Barranquilla, dismissed rumors that the Colombian Olimpica supermarket chain was in negotiations with U.S. retail giant Walmart.

Contradicting earlier reports, Char issued a statement Monday denying any kind of agreement.

"As we have on previous occasions made clear to the public securities market, Olimpica has not reported any negotiations with the U.S. network," he said.

Rumors of a deal between the two companies have been flying around since 2008, mainly based on statements issued by other members of the Char family, according to Deal Watch.

Char said that an analysis had been carried out by

Dancing with death: A bullfight in Bogota

Bullfighting in Colombia is popular but highly controversial; watched by the country's upper classes, it is opposed by many people as a vicious, cowardly sport. Fights take place at arenas across the country during the season, which runs from January to February, and a law passed in 2004 protects the sport, declaring bullfighting to be "an artistic expression of human beings." This was challenged recently by protesters who stripped naked in front of Bogota's Congress building in March this year, to campaign against what they see as the law's protection of an elitist bloodfest.

Anything with this combination of controversy, alcohol and gore is strangely intriguing to me. Hiding behind the "try anything once" mantra of the well-intentioned tourist, I decided I could leave my morals behind and