2021 in Colombia

← 2020 2019 2018 2021 in Colombia → 2022 2023 2024
Decades:	2000s 2010s 2020s
See also:	Other events of 2021 Timeline of Colombian history

Events in the year 2021 in Colombia.

Incumbents

• President: Iván Duque Márquez
• Vice President: Marta Lucía Ramírez

Events

Ongoing — COVID-19 pandemic in Colombia

• January 5 – General Luis Fernando Navarro asserts that illegal armed groups lost 5,120 members in 2020. The number includes deaths, capture, and desertions. He said the National Liberation Army (ELN) still has 2,450 members and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has 2,500.[1]
• January 17 – Scientists say the cocaine hippos in the Magdalena river basin are breeding voraciously and are an increasing menace so they must be culled.[2]
• January 25
  • The former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia {FARC) changes its name to Comunes ("Commoners").[3]
  • Notorious paramilitary commander, drug trafficker, and sexual abuser of young girls Hernán Giraldo Serna (“El Taladro”) finishes his sentence in the United States and returns to Colombia.[4]
• January 29 – 647 Haitian nationals, 23 Cubans, and 19 migrants from African countries are stranded on a beach in Necoclí, Antioquia Department, hoping to pass through the Darién Gap to Panama and the United States.[5]
• January 31 – Seven adults and seven children are killed and as many as 16 people are missing after two boats collide near Tumaco, Nariño Department.[6]

Deaths

Gildardo García

• 1 January – Pablo Hernández, racing cyclist (born 1940).[7][8]
• 2 January – Laura Weinstein, transexual activist; respiratory complications.[9]
• 11 January – Luis Adriano Piedrahita, 74, Roman Catholic bishop and theologian; COVID-19;[10] (b. 1946)
• 12 January – Álvaro Mejía, long-distance runner (born 1940).[11]
• 14 January – Antún Castro Urrutia, 74, musician and actor.[12]
• 15 January – Gildardo García, chess player (born 1954).[13]
• 21 January – Calixto Avena, 77, footballer; COVID-19.[14]
• 26 January – Carlos Holmes Trujillo, 69, politician, Defense Minister; COVID-19.[15]
• 27 January – Bertulfo Álvarez, 69, guerrilla fighter (Caribbean Bloc of the FARC-EP).[16]
• 2 February
  • Héctor Epalza Quintero, 80, Bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Buenaventura (2004–2017).[17]
  • Yordan Guetio, social activist in Corinto, Cauca; murdered.[18]

References

1. Acosta, Luis Jaime; Griffin, Oliver (January 5, 2021). Baum, Bernadette (ed.). "Colombia's illegal armed groups lost more than 5,000 members in 2020 -military commander". Reuters. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
2. Charles, Matthew (January 17, 2021). "Colombia's rapidly breeding 'cocaine hippos' must be stopped, scientists say". news.yahoo.com. The Telegraph. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
3. "Former Colombian guerrillas shed their decades-old name". news.yahoo.com. AP. January 25, 2021. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
4. "Some Colombians fear ex-paramilitary leader deported from US". AP NEWS. 25 January 2021. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
5. "Colombia reports almost 700 migrants stranded in Caribbean region". Reuters. 29 January 2021. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
6. "Colombia boat disaster: Search continues for missing". news.yahoo.com. BBC News. February 2, 2021. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
7. "Falleció el excampeón Pablo Hernández". eje21.com.co (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 January 2021.
8. "Pablo Hernández". olympedia.org. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
9. "El legado de Laura Weinstein para la población trans en Colombia". El Tiempo (in Spanish). 2 January 2021. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
10. "Luto en la iglesia: obispo de Santa Marta y sacerdote en Cartagena, las más recientes víctimas del Covid-19". infobae (in Spanish). Infobae. January 12, 2021. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
11. "Álvaro Mejía". olympedia.org. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
12. Murió el compositor y actor chocoano Antún Castro (in Spanish)
13. "Luto en el ajedrez colombiano: muere el Gran Maestro Gildardo García". eltiempo.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 January 2021.
14. Calixto Avena, exportero de selección Colombia, falleció por secuelas del covid (in Spanish)
15. "Colombia's defense minister dies from COVID-19 at age 69". AP NEWS. 26 January 2021. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
16. Muere "Bertulfo Álvarez", miembro del antiguo secretariado de las FARC (in Spanish)
17. Bishop Héctor Epalza Quintero
18. "Asesinaron a otro líder social, esta vez fue en Corinto, Cauca". infobae (in Spanish). Infobae. February 3, 2021. Retrieved February 3, 2021.