Colombia

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SOACHA, Colombia - Julian Oviedo, a 19-year-old construction worker in this gritty patchwork of slums, told his mother on March 2 that he was going to talk to a man about a job offer. A day later, Oviedo was shot dead by army troops some 350 miles to the north. He was classified as a subversive and registered as a combat kill. Colombia's government, the Bush administration's top ally in Latin America, has been buffeted by the killings of Oviedo and dozens of other young, impoverished men and women whose cases have come to light in recent weeks.

The world's sexiest beaches from an annual listing by Concierge .com: 1. Kas, Turkey 2. Malibu, Calif. 3. Paros, Greece 4. Loreto, Mexico 5. Pemba Island, Tanzania 6. Providencia, Colombia (off the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua) 7. Lanzarote, Canary Islands 8. Oahu, Hawaii 9. St. Lucia 10. Perth, Australia

BOGOTA, Colombia - Although the U.S. government was supposed to have final authority on any plan to rescue three U.S. contractors held by guerrillas, it was kept in the dark by the Colombian military until a week before the July 2 operation to lessen the chances the Bush administration would veto the effort, said a top official close to the operation. "They wanted to wait long enough to make it difficult to say no," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was forbidden to speak on the topic for attribution.

BOGOTA, Colombia - Colombian soldiers tricked leftist guerrillas in a jungle camp into freeing 15 hostages, including a former presidential candidate and three U.S. military contractors, officials said yesterday. Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said the military rescued former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, three Americans employed by Northrop Grumman Corp. and 11 soldiers and police officers held for years by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. "This was an unprecedented operation," Santos told reporters.

WASHINGTON -- Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi announced yesterday that she'll use a rare procedural option to block fast-track consideration of the Colombia free-trade agreement, a draconian step that counters President Bush's push to get Congress to vote on the controversial deal this year. Pelosi said she'll present to the House floor a rule change suspending the limit of 90 legislative days to pass or reject the Colombia free-trade agreement, just two days after Bush dispatched the text to Congress.

WASHINGTON -- Facing what are widely seen as long odds, President Bush began yesterday the contentious process of trying to win congressional approval of a free trade agreement with Colombia that critics, including many in the Democratic majority on Capitol Hill, say does not do enough to protect workers here or in that South American nation. The Bush administration argues that the measure would benefit Americans by opening a large market to U.S. goods and would reward a Latin American ally striving to overcome political instability and shut down its narcotics trade.

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Files provided by Colombian officials from computers they say were captured in a cross-border raid in Ecuador on March 1 appear to tie Venezuela's government to efforts to secure arms for Colombia's largest insurgency. Officials taking part in Colombia's investigation of the computers provided The New York Times with copies of more than 20 files, some of which also showed contributions from the rebels to the 2006 campaign of Ecuador's leftist president, Rafael Correa.

BOGOTA, Colombia -- The ever-faithful mule is still by his side, the poncho neatly draped across his shoulder, the straw hat perched atop the serene, mustachioed visage. But this is a new Juan Valdez - younger, more vigorous, more eco-conscious - a Colombian coffee grower for the hyper-caffeinated era of double lattes, triple shots and gourmet blends. Venerable Juan Valdez, one of the most successful emblems of modern advertising, is getting a makeover. Whereas the old Juan would stroll into mom's kitchen and enjoy a cup of Folgers while gently plugging 100 percent cafe de Colombia, 21st-century Juan has his own line of beans that he brews at trendy coffeehouses.

Shakira was sick of being a celebrity. Colombia's sensationally successful singer-songwriter had just come off her Oral Fixation tour this year, taking her to 140 cities on five continents to perform for 2.5 million fans. But even stardom can be a drag. So she put away her revealing sequined gowns and hip-hugging pants, donned jeans and sneakers, tucked her famous shock of dyed hair under a cap and went undercover as a summer student at University of California, Los Angeles. She enrolled in a history of Western civilization course under her middle and last names, Isabel Mebarak, telling clueless classmates she was visiting from Colombia.