Bogotá cleared thousands of tonnes of curbside trash in January

The Bogotá municipality cleared over 9,100 tonnes of trash, mostly building material, heavy items or broken furniture left on the streets, through January 2026. This amounted to 300 tonnes of débris dumped outside daily, the broadcaster Radio Santa Fe reported on 5 February. Municipal mobile Eco Points or collection vans (Ecopuntos móviles, run by the UAESP or Special Administrative Unit for Public Services) separately received almost 13,000 tonnes of 'special waste' or similar, construction, household and recoverable refuse in 2025, Radio Santa Fe reported on 2 February. The city's 211 vans move around the city with advance notice to receive unwanted items and prevent the city's notorious trash piles.

Police drone 'catches' drug peddlers in Bogotá

Police arrested five suspected drug dealers after a drone caught them in the act of dealing on a street in southern Bogotá, the broadcaster Radio Santa Fe reported on 6 February. The drone, used as part of a wider operation in the area, led to policemen rushing to the spot, where they confiscated cash, 109 doses of marijuana and 149 doses of cocaine base or paste, all equivalent to 400 doses of drugs to be sold on the street. Earlier, neighbors or informants called police to report a jewelry heist in the district of Restrepo, leading to the arrest of five suspects who tried to escape running over adjacent roofs, Radio Santa Fe reported on 5 February. A day before, police cleared dozens of informal stalls in Kennedy, southern Bogotá, which had become a breeding ground for crooked sales and petty crime like extortion and drug peddling. Items confiscated there included knives, cannabis joints, expired medicines, adulterated liquor and phones suspected as stolen, Radio Santa Fe reported.

Venezuelan assembly approves amnesty bill in principle

Venezuela's National Assembly, a body of legislators loyal to the country's socialist regime, voted unanimously on 5 February to approve in principle a political amnesty bill proposed days earlier by the acting president, Delcy Rodríguez. The bill, touted as a gesture of national reconciliation but likely the fruit of pressure from U.S. authorities now involved in running the country, was conditional and had yet to become a law, CNN reported. It was firstly subject to a process of "public consultation" to determine who would be amnestied, before returning to parliament for a second debate. It excluded various offences like "grave human rights violations," murder or drug trafficking. A parliamentary committee of 19 legislators including Nicolás Maduro Guerra, son of the Venezuelan leader currently facing drug charges in the United States, was to prepare the consultation process. Parliamentary Speaker Jorge Rodríguez told its chairman, Jorge Arreaza, to ensure a rigorous consultation process but also move fast, as "we haven't much time." The bill was proposed on 30 January as an Amnesty Law for Democratic Cohabitation (Ley de amnistía para la convivencia democrática), and applicable to the period since 1999 or entire span of of socialist or Chavista rule, CNN reported.