Colombia's incoming and outgoing presidents are now openly at odds, but the factor that actually decides a traveler's week is the long holiday weekend, not the politics. Issue 003 covers the week of 22 to 28 June: where the holiday roads and the southwest reprisal window put travelers, what the week's security operations mean, and our forward calls for the days ahead.
The president-elect, certified on 24 June, used his first week to order an investigation into alleged dealings between the outgoing government and the Clan del Golfo. Security forces landed their heaviest blow in months on that group's finances, capturing the supreme commander's sister at a Medellin-area airport, while the southwest stayed tense a week after the army killed a senior Mordisco commander in Cauca. A yellow fever outbreak centered on Tolima now carries a US CDC Level 2 travel notice.
Inside this issue, for subscribers:
- Risk Barometer across departments and corridors, with week-over-week trend
- A current operational map of the week's risk picture
- Lead developments: the Clan del Golfo finance capture, a wave of arrests, and the transition fight
- Air travel: every major airport, its status, and what to do
- Ground corridors, armed-group and contested-zone developments, extortion, and the week's weather and flooding
- A 7-day forward look with specific, falsifiable calls
- A public-health advisory on the Tolima yellow fever outbreak
- A personal-security advisory and a forwardable one-page traveler briefing
- A full traveler resources page: emergency numbers, hospitals by name, and a printable crisis card
The full brief, with the operational detail and our forward calls, is for subscribers.