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Collective Mining keeps finding gold

First, some good news. Collective Mining (TSX: CNL, OTCQX: CNLMF, FSE: GG1), which is developing a gold mine down in the Caldas region in coffee country has five drill rigs operating at its Guayabales project, part of its 40 thousand meter drill program for this year. They are getting really encouraging results. This is the same team that developed Continental Gold and sold it to Zijin mining a few years ago for over a billion dollars. We published a more detailed update in Finance Colombia if you want to go over the numbers and assay results of this most recent update. I’m long on Continental because I believe in the team led by Ari Sussman.

Collective Mining Expands its Box Target Area with New High-Grade Samples; Drilling Continues

Petro threatens the private sector with “forced investments!”

President Gustavo Petro is once again terrifying investors, this time with an announcement that he plans to force private banks to loan money to projects and borrowers of his choosing. He said, and I translate:

 “I promised that we were going to present the measures to the congress of the republic to reactivate the economy which will consist, and I say it once and for all, in projects of law that generate FORCED INVESTMENT in the private financial system of Colombia destined to small, medium and large industry of agriculture and tourism in Colombia to reactivate the country.”

This is what Petro’s opponents warned about, and at least when it comes to intent, they were right. The question now is whether Colombia’s institutionalism can withstand more of his adventures. Statements and plans like this destroy investor confidence and scare away capital, just like what is happening with Ecopetrol.

“…and I say it once and for all, in projects of law that generate FORCED INVESTMENT in the private financial system of Colombia” – President Gustavo Petro

General Motors To Close Colombia Manufacturing Operations

Speaking of scaring away capital, General Motors is closing its Colmotores car factory after almost 70 years in Colombia. Now two years ago, GM said it was going to invest 50 million dollars to upgrade the factory to produce new models! What has changed? By the way, the Minister of Labor has told GM that they have to keep the workers employed even though the factory is closing, so we will see how that works out.

Alvaro Uribe is formally charged with witness tampering & bribery

Former President Alvaro Uribe, who in recent years has seen his once stellar legacy tarnished by a litany of revelations, is now formally charged with witness tampering in a drama that goes back to 2012. See the AP article here. https://apnews.com/article/colombia-alvaro-uribe-charges-witness-tampering-bd11a922142d000db1fcac178a1a147e

See also: Declassified US State Department Cables: “Uribe Almost Certainly Had Dealings With The Paramilitaries”

Bilateral harmony between Colombia & US leads to results

In some good news Colombia hosted a US State Department delegation last month for high level talks which led to several announcements. Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo, who actually was a US Citizen for a while, has announced that Colombians can now access almost 20 thousand United States non-agricultural work visas, and more than 1,000 summer job visas. We will do a write up on this both on Finance Colombia and Empleobilingue, the only source on the web for bilingual talent.

Colombia is going to open five new consulates in Phoenix, Dallas, Denver, Charlotte and Seattle. There are already 9 thousand Colombians studying in the US on Student Visas, and there is a family unification program already in effect between the two countries which has 6,000 current authorizations by the State Department.

The mammoth UNGRD scandal that threatens Petro

There is an ongoing scandal in the Petro Administration where the government paid the equivalent of $12 million US dollars for a fleet of water tanker trucks to supply water to citizens of La Guajira, the desert region on the Atlantic Coast near the Venezuelan border. Now, no water got to the residents of La Guajira, the trucks sat idle on a Colombian military base. But the money paid to a contractor by Colombia’s UNGRD (National Unit of Disaster Risk Management) was “allegedly” used to bribe Senate President Iván Name and Andrés Calle in the house of representatives to unblock opposition to Petro’s reform bills. According to Colombia’s comptroller, the Controller General (Contraloria), each tanker truck was purchased from the dealer, Kenworth de la Montaña, in Medellín, for about 600 million pesos, but then sold to the government for $1.2 billion pesos. This way they could launder money out for political purposes.

Former Deputy Director of the UNGRD, Sneyder Pinilla “prendió el ventilador-started the fan” (Colombian saying, like “when the shit hits the fan”) and accused former director of the UNGRD, Olmedo Lopez of using the UNGRD money through this conspiracy to pay the bribes, covering it up with this tanker truck contract, and that the payments were made at the direction of Petro’s Minister of the Interior, Luís Fernando Velasco, and the Councilor for the Regions, Sandra Ortiz, who was actually the bag man, or “bag woman.”

Now Olmedo López and Sneyder Pinilla are testifying and want immunity with Colombia’s attorney general, because they say that the tanker scandal is just the tip of the iceberg in a case that for Colombia, may be larger than the Odebrecht scandal.

According to these two, a political machine was put in place inside the Petro administration that would launder 380 billion pesos, or almost $100 million US dollars of “marmalade” or UNGRD funds into the hands of legislators and bureaucrats to bribe for passage of Petro’s reforms, all of which have failed so far, and to finance last October’s local elections, where again, Petro’s party and allies lost badly. Lopez says the tanker truck scandal just got discovered but according to him there is a whole infrastructure inside Petro’s government operating with this modality to bribe legislators and fund campaigns.

Now the scary thing is that the company that sold the trucks, Impoamericana Roger SAS was sold to Elmer Celis in 2019, and right before the contract for the tankers was being finalized, Celis was assassinated. So this scandal now has deadly implications.

Sura wants out of the EPS health system

Grupo Sura, the insurance and asset management giant has told the Colombian government that it plans to withdraw from the national EPS health insurance scheme. They are supposed to be meeting with the company to negotiate what happens.

Colombia wants the gold from a Spanish Galleón, so do Bolivians

In 1708 the Spanish galleon San José was sunk by the British during the War of Spanish Succession. in the Caribbean sea off the coast of Cartagena. The shipwreck was found in 2015 in about 600 meters, or 328 fathoms, or 2,000 feet of water, and Colombia is claiming it as its own and using the military to fend off any would-be treasure hunters. Last month, Colombia announced that it was launching a research and recovery project, aiming to prioritize the historical value of the wreck. There are complications though. The ship was Spanish, so Spain would need to renounce any sovereignty over the wreck. Spain considers the ship a graveyard that should not be molested out of respect for the dead.

Down in landlocked Bolivia, the Chicha, Caranga and Killaka people have filed claims with UNESCO saying that their enslaved ancestors extracted the treasure onboard from mines in what is now Bolivia, and have a right to share in whatever wealth is in the shipwreck.

This is going to be an interesting case. There is a treaty, the 2001 Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage. Spain is a signatory, so is bound by the treaty, but Colombia never ratified or signed it, so is not bound by it.

Colombia has (finally) outlawed bullfighting

The Colombian house of representatives has outlawed bullfighting, a 500 year old tradition of bovine torture inherited from the Spanish. There are still people who defend bullfighting. The bill is in reconciliation with the senate, and then goes to President Petro, who is sure to sign it into law.

Mafia guerilla groups flourishing, expanding under Petro’s “Total Peace” fiasco

Reuters is reporting that it got access to a secret report showing that all the major criminal mafias in Colombia expanded in 2023, making a mockery of President Petro’s “Total Peace” initiative. Those criminal organizations would be the Clan del Golfo, ELN, and the two former FARC groups Estado Mayor and Segunda Marquetalia. Petro ran his campaign promising “Total Peace” but these groups, three of the four are avowed communist guerillas, and the Clan Del Golfo a descendant of paramilitaries, just keep getting bigger. When is Petro going to start?

Reuters also reported on illegal road building in the Amazon rainforest, in some cases by these same groups, that the government is supposed to be stopping. For example, Chiribiquete, nobody is even allowed to go in there but there are at least 12 illegal roads built, according to Reuters!

These mafias, in this case it looks like the Estado Mayor – former FARC, is building these roads to conduct illegal activities in nature preserves, and the government is unwilling to do anything, or at least, so far it is not combatting the activity.

So that’s it for this week.

Remember to practice critical thinking

Stay mentally and physically active,

And above all, be kind to yourself and others.

This new National Sanitary Emergency situation has forced us to change our plans and even our way of life. In this sense, Colombian Authorities recently modified some procedures for the benefit of all, by flexibilization in visa expirations providing visitors in Colombia the legal basis they need to adapt to the situation and plan their flights home.

Jaime Aristizabal is an attorney with Expat Group, a law firm in Medellin that services clients throughout Colombia and abroad with immigration and business formation.

There were two recent resolutions aiming to accommodate foreign visitors in Colombia. The first issued in March by Migration Colombia was a resolution targeted to tourists having to extend their periods in the country due to the declared Covid19 National Sanitary Emergency, and in April the Foreign Affairs Ministry pronounced a hold on visa expirations.

The first, came out of Migration Colombia, used mostly in Colombia by tourists for extensions, safe passage documents and other administrative migration related procedures, which very similarly to the above, the time lapse of the visa are extended until the sanitary emergency is over.

Tourists who stay in Colombia need not fear any infractions derived from their visa status or legal status in the country. For a specific legal basis Foreigners may refer to the articles of the resolution as summarized below.

The purpose of this is for foreigners in Colombia to relax during these troubled days of Coronavirus and the adaptation to new staying and flying procedures. We are always please to update foreign nationals in Colombia and all our clients at expatgroup.co, our group of professionals steadily update us  with the Government resolutions and communication regarding the new conditions which the immigration service of the Republic of Colombia will enforce for the remaining of the State of Sanitary Emergency declared this current year:

Imigration resolution 0918 of March 19th, 2020 pronouncements:

Resolution by which temporary extraordinary Covid19 measures are adopted for the provision of immigration procedures and services at the national level:

Article 1. Suspension of the Validity Terms of the Permanent Safe-conducts (SC-2):

It provisionally suspended the accounting of the validity time of some of the Permanent Safeguards or Safe-conducts (SC-2) in force as of the date of this resolution, until May 30, 2020, inclusive, or until the term established by the National Government for the sanitary emergency.

The Safe-conducts to which the suspension will be applied are the following:

1. By Provisional or conditional release or order of competent authority.
2. To solve administrative situations.
3. For discretionary criteria in the opinion of the immigration authority, as long as they are related to human rights and fundamental rights of their applicants. The situation in each particular case must be motivated through an administrative act.
4. Foreigner born in Colombia.

Exceptions are the SC-2 Permanence Safeguards to request and/or change visa and recognition of refugee status.

Article 2. From the Visa Registration and Issuance of Immigration Certificate:

The immigration authority may grant an opportunity to amend or refrain from initiating administrative action because there are grounds exempt from liability, as the case may be, in the terms provided in Resolution 1238 of 2018 to foreigners that on the occasion of the preventive isolation ordered by the national government to prevent the spread of COVID-19, has not been possible for them to carry on within the established terms in Decree 1743 of 2015 the registration of the visa and/or requested the Foreigner ID issuance.

Article 3: Of the Extensions of Permanence:

It provisionally suspended the accounting of the time of validity of the extensions of permanence or Temporary Permits of Permanence, as of the date of this resolution, until May 30, 2020 or until the term established by the National Government for the health emergency is met.

Article 4. Of the Special Permission to Stay (PEP):

The Special Administrative Unit for Migration Colombia will provisionally suspend the accounting of the time of absence for the cancellation of the Special Permits to Stay for the reason enshrined in number 4 of article 6 of Resolution 5797 of 2017, until May 30, 2020 or until the term established by the National Government for the health emergency is fulfilled.

Article 5. From the Otpas Activities Permit (POA):It suspended the term of stay in national territory, foreigners who have been granted a POA type Entry and Permanence Permit, up to 30 calendar days, for any of the activities described in number 3 of article 13 and in accordance with the term established in Article 14 of Resolution 3167 of 2019, with the exception of the permission granted by Shore Pass to the Members of Maritime or River Crew, until May 30, 2020 or until the term established by the National Government for the health emergency is met. .

Article 6. Regarding Temporality:

Before the expiration of the term stipulated herein and based on what the National Government determines, Colombia Migration as the authority for the surveillance and control of immigration and aliens of the Colombian State, will determine the continuity or not of this measure.

Article 7. Regarding face-to-face procedures:

The Regional Directors will be in charge of coordinating general public access to the Migration Colombia facilities so that the corresponding procedures by foreigners can be carried out, as well as evaluating and determining the provision of services in an extraordinary way outside their facilities. , in accordance with the preventive, obligatory and transitory measures established in Resolution 385 of 2020 of the Minister: 3 of Health and Social Protection and other regulations that modify, add, complement or clarify it.

Article 8. Regarding Validity:

The present resolution governs from the date of its publication and is above all provisions that are contrary to it.

For answers to questions, additional information or professional guidance, please contact Expat Group via any of the following methods:

• Web chat on website https://expatgroup.co/english/.
• Customer service email info@expatgroup.co.
• Telephone attention in Spanish and English on the lines: (+57) 350 894 8130 / (+57) 350 211 2552.
• Attention through WhatsApp: (+57) 350 894 8130.
• Via social networks: Facebookand Instagram.
• Google Business link https://g.page/expatgroup-colombia.

Photo courtesy Migración Colombia via Twitter

Recent days may seem mayhem, this unexpected pandemic has citizens of all nations locked down and adapting to new changes. Recently, Colombian Authorities released a couple of resolutions to modify established times of the visa procedures determining a suspension of the time lapse for applications, end of visas, tourist permits, giving foreigners in the country a clear legal basis for staying in Colombia and start planning for when all gets better. Therefore, there is no need for foreign nationals in Colombian to get unnecessarily stressed out. These changes as they are now are very simple and for the better. Let’s review most of them.

Jaime Aristizabal is an attorney with Expat Group, a law firm in Medellin that services clients throughout Colombia and abroad with immigration and business formation.

There were two recent resolutions whose goal is to reduce the visa related stress of visitors and resident foreigners in Colombia. The first issued in March by Migration Colombia was a resolution targeted to reassure all tourists having to extend their periods in the country due to the declared Covid19 National Sanitary Emergency, and in April the Foreign Affairs Ministry pronounced a hold on the expiration of pending visas.

The second, as mentioned, came out of Colombia’s foreign affairs ministry and affects the status of all foreign nationals within the country holding visas or needing visa related procedures, the key here is that the accounting of the timing of the status of visas and visa applications has been frozen, and it will recontinue once the state of sanitary emergency declared in March has been lifted.

Foreign Affairs Resolution 1296 of April 21st, 2020 pronouncements:

By which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Colombia suspends some of the terms in the visa, passport and nationality procedures

Article 1. Visa applications for foreigners staying in the Colombian territory:

Foreigners who are in regular residence within Colombian territory may apply for a visa before the Visa Authority in Bogotá through the electronic means provided for this purpose by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

During the validity of this Resolution, foreigners holding a visitor visa in Colombia will not be allowed to make visa applications that signify class changes, being able to only request the same class of visa of which they are the holder, always, in accordance with the requirements established in Resolution 6045 of 2017, and the principle of discretion in the granting of visas.

Article 2. Suspension in the processing of visa applications for foreigners staying outside the Colombian territory:

It provisionally suspended until the Sanitary Emergency declared by the Ministry of Health remains in effect, the processing of visa applications by foreigners staying outside of Colombian territory, established in Resolution 6045 of 2017. The Colombian consulates and the Visa Authority in Bogotá, are prevented from admitting during the referred term such visa applications, regardless of their class or activity.

Article 3. Suspension of the validity terms of the visas:

It provisionally suspended until the Sanitary Emergency declared by the Ministry of Health remains in force, counting the validity time of the visa for foreigners that are abroad and are holders of a visa in force at the time of issuance of this Resolution, in accordance with the following:

1. Type (v) visitor visas to provide temporary services to a natural or legal person in Colombia, and to hold office in a Colombian headquarters of a company with a presence abroad by virtue of intra-corporate transfer of personnel.
2. Type (M) migrant visas regardless of their activity

Article 4. Suspension of the terms of early termination of visas due to the absence of national territory:

Provisionally suspend until the Sanitary Emergency declared by the Ministry of Health remains in force, the accounting of the time of absence from the national territory, as a cause of early termination of type M and R visas established in number 3 of article 66 of Resolution 6045 of 2017, for foreigners who are abroad and are holders of such classes of visa in force at the time of issuance of this Resolution.

Article 5. Suspension of the provisions related to the printing and stamping of the visa. Suitability of the electronic visa for purposes of registration in the Foreign Registry:

It provisionally suspended until the Sanitary Emergency declared by the Ministry of Health remains in force, the terms established in article 89 of Resolution 6045 of 2017, relating to the duty of the foreigner to print and stamp the visa with validity equal to or more than three months, in order to advance its registration in the Register of Foreigners. Such registration may be advanced with the current electronic visa (e-visa), whose authenticity and conditions will be verified by the Immigration Authority at the time of the respective registration. This, in line with public policy regarding Digital Government and streamlining procedures.

Article 6. Suspension of the time limits to claim the passport once issued:

It is provisionally suspended until the Health Emergency declared by the Ministry of Health remains in force, the deadlines enshrined in articles 12 and 18 of Resolution 10077 of 2017.

Article 7. Suspension of the procedures for issuing ordinary and executive passports:

Provisionally suspended until the Sanitary Emergency declared by the Ministry of Health remains in force, the issuance of ordinary and executive electronic passports by the issuing Offices in Bogotá, Calle 98 and Cale 53 and Colombian Consulates abroad.

Article 8. Suspension of the process of renunciation of nationality:

It is suspended provisionally until the Health Emergency declared by the Ministry of Health remains in force, the process of renunciation of nationality referred to in article 2.2.4.1.20 of Decree 1067 of 2015 for applications submitted after the Issue of Resolution 0385 of 2020 by which the sanitary emergency was decreed.

Article 9. Suspension of the term to issue a certificate of renunciation of nationality:

It is provisionally suspended until the Sanitary Emergency declared by the Ministry of Health remains in force, the terms for the process of renunciation of nationality referred to in article 2.2.4.1.21 of Decree 1067 of 2015 for requests presented after the issuance of resolution 0385 of 2020 through which the sanitary emergency was decreed.

Article 10. Suspension of the term to issue the act of recovery of nationality:

The sanitary emergency declared by the Minister of Health remains provisionally suspended until the term of five (5) days provided for in Article 2.2.4.3.5 of Decree 1067 of 2015 expires to issue the recovery act of Colombian nationality for the applications that are in progress after the issuance of resolution 0385 of 2020 by which the sanitary emergency is decreed.

Article 11. Validity and Application:

The present resolution governs from the date of its publication and will remain in force until the end of the health emergency declared by the ministry of health and social protection through resolution 0385 of 2020.

For answers to questions, additional information or professional guidance, please contact Expat Group via any of the following methods:

• Web chat on website https://expatgroup.co/english/.
• Customer service email info@expatgroup.co.
• Telephone attention in Spanish and English on the lines: (+57) 350 894 8130 / (+57) 350 211 2552.
• Attention through WhatsApp: (+57) 350 894 8130.
• Via social networks: Facebookand Instagram.
• Google Business link https://g.page/expatgroup-colombia.