AL JAZEERA: Migrants brave perilous Darien Gap in desperate trek to US →

Manguenlove Bellegarde gazed up in disbelief at the steep mountainside he had to climb at the beginning of his journey through one of the world’s most treacherous frontiers.

Along with his Dominican partner and two young children, the 33-year-old Haitian was attempting to cross the Darien Gap – a lawless stretch of mountainous jungle 160 kilometres (100 miles) long and 50km (30 miles) wide between Colombia and Panama.

Asylum seekers and refugees pass a figure of the Virgin Mary before boarding a boat that will take them to Acandi, a town in northern Colombia on the border with Panama [Steve Grattan/Al Jazeera]

THE TIMES: Colombia’s fragile peace at risk from violent dissident groups →

Violence in remote areas of Colombia is increasing again, say campaigners, five years after a landmark peace deal was signed with left-wing guerrillas to end decades of conflict.

As the country marked the anniversary of the peace process between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) yesterday, the United States was reported to be poised to remove the once notorious rebel group from its list of terrorists.

Former Farc fighters take part in a commemorative parade in Medellin, five years since the signing of a peace agreement LUIS EDUARDO NORIEGA /EPA

THE TIMES: Same-sex marriage backed by Chile’s MPs →

Chile’s parliament is on course to legalise same-sex marriage, four years after the reform was first proposed and despite the country’s conservative reputation among religious Latin American nations.

Supporters campaigning for marriage equality at a Pride parade in Santiago this month MATIAS BASUALDO/ZUMA PRESS WIRE/ALAMY

BBC: Colombia peace deal: The families displaced five years on →

Margarita Pernia gives her grandson a drink

THE TIMES: Maradona buried without heart ‘to foil rival fans’ plot to steal it’ →

Diego Maradona was buried without his heart to stop fans of a rival football club stealing it in a raid on his tomb, it has been claimed.

Nelson Castro, 66, a renowned Argentine neurologist and journalist, is releasing a book, Diego’s Health: The True Story, which he claims holds secrets about the footballer’s final moments.

Diego Maradona with his doctor, Leopoldo Luque, in November last year. He died less than two weeks later AFP/GETTY IMAGES

FINANCIAL TIMES: Venezuela halts talks with opposition after key Maduro ally extradited →

Venezuela’s government has suspended internationally sponsored negotiations with the opposition and revoked the house arrest of six American prisoners after the US extradited a close ally of president Nicolás Maduro to face money laundering charges.

Venezuela’s chief negotiator Jorge Rodríguez, centre, speaks to the press in front of an image of Alex Saab in Caracas on Saturday © AP

AL JAZEERA: Colombia troop deployment at Venezuela border raises questions →

Colombia has sent 14,000 soldiers to its border with Venezuela, which is reopening this week after a three-year closure, in a move rights groups and political analysts say could fuel tensions between the countries.

The Venezuelan government began the process of reopening the border on Tuesday by removing containers placed at the Simon Bolivar International Bridge in 2019.

A member of the Colombian military patrols an unofficial crossing between Colombia and Venezuela, as the two countries are gradually reopening their shared border [Nathalia Angarita/Reuters]

AL JAZEERA: Colombia’s ELN rebels warn of ‘reprisals’ after commander killed →

Colombia’s largest remaining armed group has warned of “reprisals” after a government bombing killed one of its top commanders this week, prompting experts to predict a rise in attacks.

National Liberation Army (ELN) commander Angel Padilla Romero, better known by the alias Fabian, died in a Cali hospital after being injured in a military bombing on Colombia’s west coast, the government announced on Tuesday.

A commander of the National Liberation Army (ELN) in the northwestern jungles in Colombia on August 30th. Photograph: Federico Rios/Reuters

VICE WORLD NEWS: Haitians Are Crossing One of the World's Most Dangerous Places to Reach the US: 'For a Better Life, or Die.' →

In a bustling line of migrants, Edouanier Simon wraps up his family's possessions in black trash bags and seals them with adhesive tape.

He’s been waiting for 24 days in the northwestern Colombian town of Necoclí to cross the Gulf of Urabá by boat, the first step in a journey with his wife and three children through the perilous jungle of the Darien Gap.

The Simon family from Haiti wait in line to catch a boat to cross the Gulf of Uraba in Necocli, Colombia. Photo: Steven Grattan

AL JAZEERA: Colombia’s aerial fumigation push fuels fear of coca conflict →

Henri lies in a hammock on his front porch with a pistol on the table beside him.

The 36-year-old coca farmer says he was forced to resume the risky business of growing the plant from which cocaine is made in order to make a living after promised government subsidies failed to materialise.

Henri, a coca farmer, stands with his hand on hip while inspecting the emerald leaves of his coca shrubs, the raw ingredient of cocaine. He worries a return to aerial spraying of glyphosate will affect the environment and the health of non-coca producing locals. Photo: Steven Grattan