Reggaeton star J Balvin's debut album goes gold

Colombia's multi award-wining reggaeton superstar J. Balvin saw his debut album "Real" go gold over the weekend.
The reggaeton hit machine was given the award by the president of EMI music Colombia, making him the only Colombian urban music artist to have an album go gold.
The award winning album contains such hot tracks as "Ella Me Cautivo," "Sin Compromiso," "Extasis," and "Obra de Arte," among others.
In addition to seeing his album go gold, J Balvin is also the recording artist with the highest number of digital downloads in Colombia, according to news source El Satelite.
It seems there's no stopping the reggaeton hero, who recently released the video for his latest hit single "En el Oscuro."
J. Balvin, one of the most important reggaeton artists in the country, has told fans he is "ready to take on the world" and that he hopes to one day be reggaeton's answer to greats like Jay Z.
To have his album go gold means that "Real" has sold over 500,000 copies.

Santos appoints Liberal Party leader as labor minister

Colombian President Santos announced Monday he will appoint Liberal Party leader Rafael Pardo to lead the country's newly formed Labor Ministry, an office that was dissolved by the previous administration.
Santos announced the Pardo's appointment the same day the country's statistics agency announced the lowest unemployment rates in the last 14 years.
According to Santos, the Liberal Party leader "will officially be sworn in as minister the beginning of next week."
Pardo told the press his main focus will be to create "more and more jobs," stressing these jobs should be "dignified jobs."
The new minister studied economy at Bogota's Andes University. He took over the leadership of the Liberal Party of former President Cesar Gaviria before running against Santos in the 2010 presidential elections. After years of opposition against the administration of President Alvaro Uribe, Pardo brokered the inclusion of the Liberal Party in Santos' "coalition of national unity."

70 Canadian companies contribute to Colombian FDI

Seventy Canadian companies are contributing to Colombian foreign direct investment, said the Colombian ambassador in Canada.
According to financial publication La Republica, the Ambassador, Clemencia Forero Ucros said that companies including Casa Luker and Polibagas are closing deals in Colombia.
The ambassador added that negotiations are taking place with the aim of exportation by air. She also said Canadian firms are protected by the judicial stability that Colombia offers.
Last week, Colombian businesspeople carried out field visits to stores such as Winners, Joe Fresh and The Bay in order to gain an understanding of the current market and the new benefits that they could offer.
Also the International Business Matchmaking Forum took place last week in which Colombian exporters displayed their goods - such as fruit, vegetables, chocolate, children's wear, underwear and swimwear - to Canadian buyers.
According to entrepreneurs, Canadian culture puts a lot of emphasis on social responsibility and so where products have come to market through illicit crop substitution program, such as palm hearts and quinoa, there is an increased purchasing possibility.
The Canadian business tour of Colombian exports was organized in order to encourage trade following the entry into force of the free trade agreement on August 15, 2011.

Minimum wage increase should be moderate: Colombia's finance minister

The increase in Colombia's legal minimum wage for 2012 should be moderate so that job creation is not affected, said the country's finance minister.
Finance Minister Juan Carlos Echeverry said, "from the point of view of the Ministry of Finance, the increase in the minimum wage should be a cautious increase which recognizes the increase in inflation and productivity," in recognition of the fall in the rate of unemployment to 9.7%., Caracol Radio reported Monday.
Echeverry also asked the labor round table to be cautious, due to the fact that the Colombian economy is generating a lot of employment and this momentum needs to be maintained. For this reason, as with every year, the minister said that the increase should not be excessive nor minuscule.

Colombian soccer legend 'Tino' Asprilla reaches deal in child support battle

Controversial Colombian soccer legend Faustino “El Tino” Asprilla has agreed to a compromise in his long-running child support legal battle with his ex-wife.
Asprilla, also known in Colombia as "the Octopus," agreed to pay $53,000 in back payments – a third of what his ex-wife’s representative, her father Gustavo Cortes, had demanded, Colombian media reported.
He also agreed to pay $1,500 a month until his son Santiago, who is currently 18 years old, turns 25.
Legal proceedings against Asprilla have now been suspended for two months to give him time to demonstrate he will meet the terms of the agreement. On March 5 he will return to court so a judge can review his progress.
After Asprilla was slapped with a $28,000 fine and ordered to pay $2,000 a month child support in 2009, he accused his ex, who now lives in the U.S, of blowing her divorce settlement on clothes.
Asprilla officially retired in 2009 after a colorful career that took him to Italy, England, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Chile.
Renowned as much for his off field antics and flamboyant style as for his achievements on the pitch, he has remained in the limelight with numerous appearances on reality TV shows and a high profile arrest on weapons charges.

Colombia finishes 6th in Pan American Games

Colombia finished sixth in medal counts at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.
With 286 athletes participating in the games, Colombia finished with 84 medals overall and had a proportionately better balance of medals than most of the other countries (29%).
In first place was the United States with 236 medals among 618 athletes (38%); Cuba in second with 136 among 443 (31%), and Brazil in third with 141 medals and 519 participants (27%).
Colombia outperformed 8th placed Venezuela, which had 385 athletes, as well as 7th placed Argentina with 486.
This year Colombia took home 24 gold, 25 silver, and 35 bronze medals. This represented a 74% improvement in totals from their last showing at the games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where they won 14 gold, 13 silver, and 20 bronze.

Soccer preview: Liga Postobon week 13

As the Liga Postobon runs into its final month before the play-off stage, only the bottom two teams will have given up hope of making the final cut.
League leaders Junior will be looking to extend their six game unbeaten run against troubled Cucuta, who are without a win since early September. It should prove a straightforward fixture for Junior with Cucuta distracted by the off-field problems that have plagued their season.
With the club in financial turmoil, a threatened strike by the Cucuta players was narrowly avoided last week when local authorities intervened to offer the players a month’s pay. However, according to the players, they are yet to receive any of the money, but will still turn out to face Junior.
Just one point behind the leaders on 19, Itagui will travel to Neiva to meet Huila. Itagui will be keen to avoid the tailspin in form they suffered at the end of their top flight debut in this year’s opening tournament. The season run-in saw them miss out on the play-offs by just two points after failing to muster a single win in their last eight games.
Behind the top two, sit six teams on 18 points. Two of those, Quindio and Tolima, meet each other in a clash that offers both teams a crucial opportunity to cement a place in the last eight. Quindio will be looking to bounce back from their shock defeat to Cartagena last week while Tolima will be hoping to show the sort of battling qualities that saw them turn around a two goal deficit against high-flying Itagui.
Of the other top eight teams, America, who have a game in hand over their rivals, play Medellin, whose poor form in recent weeks has seen them drop out of contention for the play-offs and into the bottom two. Meanwhile, Cali faces a tricky trip to Envigado, while Santa Fe meet 13th placed Once Caldas and Chico play struggling La Equidad.
In other games, Nacional, who have slumped from top spot to ninth in the last few weeks, will be hoping newly crowned Copa Colombia champions Millonarios will still be nursing their cup win hangovers as the Medellin team try to break back into the top eight. One point behind Nacional, Pereira takes on Real Cartagena at home.

Full schedule:

Tuesday November 1
8PM Huila VS Itagui
8PM Quindio VS Tolima

Wednesday November 2
3:30PM Envigado VS Cali
6PM Equidad VS Chico
8PM Nacional VS Millonarios
8PM Pereira VS R.Cartagena
8PM Santa Fe VS O. Caldas
8:30PM America VS Medellín

Thursday November 3
8PM Junior VS Cucuta

Colombia's new National Intelligence Agency

President Juan Manuel Santos signed a decree on Monday implementing Colombia's newly formed National Intelligence Agency (ANI) in lieu of the eradicated and disgraced Department of Administrative Security (DAS).
The Colombian government declared that the new agency, headed by former Navy commander Alvaro Echandia, is a modern institution dedicated exclusively to intelligence and counter-intelligence gathering in the state.
Echandia, born in Medellin in 1953, was vice-admiral of the Colombian Navy until his appointment as ANI director and has occupied both military and diplomatic positions in his professional life.
Under the new decree, the ANI is a civilian agency under the Presidency of the Republic and has no judicial police functions. It will not support criminal investigations and will have nothing to do monitoring the security of the state. Judicial documents given to DAS in the past will be eliminated.
In the initial calculations of the President, the elimination of DAS and the creation of ANI will cost about $37 million.
The Colombian Presidency has not revealed how many former DAS employees will take part in the new intelligence agency. Santos also did not announce how many employees the agency will have.

9 killed in central Colombia combat between Army and 'FARC'

Eight alleged members of guerrilla group FARC and one soldier were killed, and five rebel suspects were arrested in operations in central Colombia, newspaper El Espectador reported Tuesday.
According to the newspaper, seven of the killed rebel suspects and the army soldier were killed in combat that took place in Vista Hermosa, a municipality in the department of Meta.
An eighth alleged guerrilla was killed in a Cartagena de Chaira municipality in Caqueta.
The Army reportedly also seized 11 rifles, a 60mm mortar, large quantities of ammunition and communication equipment.
El Espectador reported that the army also confiscated documents about the insurgent group's finances and plans for terrorist attacks.

Petro's victory in Bogota a message for guerrillas to disarm: Santos

Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos announced on Monday that Gustavo Petro's mayoral victory in Bogota is a message to guerrillas that it's time to lay down their arms.
Santos said that Petro's election is "the most prominent example that reintegration does pay, and social transformations are obtained from the polls of democracy and not from the gun."
With Petro's victory, Santos sees an opportunity for an ex-guerrilla to prove that the path of reconciliation is the most sensible way, according to the presidential website.
Commenting on Petro's past as a guerrilla, Santos remarked, "The mayor was active in the M-19 - as I said and as he had said - a son of the peace process, but now the first charge from the capital of the country comes from the force of his ideas, by the courage of his convictions, and by something very important, by betting on democracy."
He went on to stress that Petro's victory shows that "proposals never, ever should be [made] from pain or death."