Christina Noriega

Bogota D.C.

Freelance journalist and photographer in Bacata (Bogotá). Colombian-American. @PulitzerCenter grantee 2022, 2025. Bylines: @AJEnglish, @npr, @mongabay.

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Articles

How Colombia plans to support kids orphaned by femicide

2 weeks ago | aljazeera.com | Christina Noriega
Venezuela braces for Nicolas Maduro's inauguration

Jan 9, 2025 | aljazeera.com | Christina Noriega

Bogota, Colombia - Jesus Medina Ezaine had already spent 16 months in a Venezuelan military prison, accused of crimes he said were related to his work as a photojournalist. But another prison stint seemed imminent, particularly after the contested re-election of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. With Maduro set to be sworn in for a third term, Medina, 43, made a difficult decision: to flee his home in Venezuela for the relative safety of Bogota, the capital of neighbouring Colombia.
In Venezuela’s diaspora, protests erupt against Maduro’s contested election

Aug 29, 2024 | aljazeera.com | Christina Noriega

Venezuelans abroad are using their political power to pressure their government to release complete election results. Bogota, Colombia – On the night of July 28, Gaby Arellano, a 41-year-old Venezuelan political refugee, watched her country’s presidential election unfold from Colombia’s capital, Bogota. She expected the outcome to spark a new future for Venezuela.
‘Igualada’ Tells the Inspiring Story of Colombia’s First Black Vice President

Jun 4, 2024 | remezcla.com | Christina Noriega

Supporters assembled by the thousands at her rallies. Large, colorful posters of her face hung prominently in highrise windows and covered sides of buildings and stretches of city walls. Media commentators described her in the news as a political “phenomenon.”In Colombia’s 2022 presidential elections, Francia Márquez, a small-town activist, captivated the country when she became the first Afro-Colombian woman to be elected vice president.
In Colombia, hunting poachers, not drug traffickers

Mar 21, 2024 | aljazeera.com | Christina Noriega

Cali, Colombia – On January 20, 2023, a Colombian task force burst into a home in this city, looking for contraband. Nearly a dozen officers scattered throughout the house, searching every room, peering into cabinets and closets, and poking under beds and couches until they found what they came for in a cardboard box: a massive, yellow-spotted python that was three metres (10 feet) long.
Amid uptick in kidnappings, Colombian family receives ‘biggest gift of all’

Dec 25, 2023 | aljazeera.com | Christina Noriega

Chia, Colombia – Decnis Diaz was at home in Chia, Colombia, on November 18 when she received a call from her siblings: Her beloved younger brother, Jhon Jairo Diaz, had been kidnapped. A 34-year-old store manager, Jhon Jairo was ending his shift at a meat market in Cucuta, a border town near Venezuela, when four masked men held him at gunpoint and dragged him inside a black sedan. Security cameras captured the vehicle speeding away.
Why Latin America’s ‘pink tide’ is taking a stand against Israel

Nov 9, 2023 | aljazeera.com | Christina Noriega

Bogota, Colombia – As Israel’s bombardment of Gaza enters its second month, world leaders have increasingly voiced concern over the rising death toll and suspected human rights violations in the Palestinian territory. But in the West, few have been as vocal — or as severe in their criticism — as the leftist leaders in Latin America, many of whom came to power as part of a progressive wave known as the “pink tide”.
Could Venezuela’s diaspora hold the key to its opposition primary race?

Oct 20, 2023 | aljazeera.com | Christina Noriega

Bogota, Colombia – Ever since Gisela Serrano fled Venezuela in 2018, the 53-year-old has felt like she has one foot in her adopted home of Colombia and another in her native country, where she hopes to one day return. For that to happen, though, the country’s humanitarian crisis would need to improve. So Serrano, a migrant rights activist, follows the political situation in Venezuela closely.
Her son was killed by the Colombian military. Now, she’s getting an apology

Oct 6, 2023 | aljazeera.com | Christina Noriega

Bogota, Colombia – Nearly two decades after the Colombian army killed her 19-year-old son, Beatriz Mendez heard the words she had long waited for. On Tuesday, Defence Minister Ivan Velasquez issued a public apology for the extrajudicial killings of 19 civilians, including Mendez’s son and nephew, clearing their names of any wrongdoing and acknowledging the state’s responsibility for their deaths.
The secret to Colombia’s drop in deforestation? Armed groups

Aug 22, 2023 | msn.com | Christina Noriega

Bogota, Colombia – In July, when Colombia announced that deforestation had dropped to the lowest level in nearly a decade, the news was hailed as a victory for left-wing President Gustavo Petro. But experts say there is another reason for the dramatic drop: Armed rebel groups have taken it upon themselves to ban illegal logging.