OSINT of Colombia
This post is part of UNISHKA Research Service’s ongoing OSINT series. If you’re interested in learning more, subscribe to our Substack and follow us on social media to stay in the loop. You can also visit our website to explore all the toolkits we’ve created so far: www.unishka.com/osint-world-series.
We regularly share country-specific OSINT toolkits, along with case studies, investigative tips, and real-world examples to support open-source investigations. Our goal is to provide journalists, analysts, and engaged citizens with actionable resources and insights.
If we’ve missed any good sources, just drop us a comment or send an email to abawer@unishka.com — we’ll make sure to add them to the toolkit!
We extend our sincere thanks to Mikel Viteri, an OSINT researcher, for creating this toolkit and partnering with UNISHKA on the development of future toolkits.
Entry #31 OSINT Series
Open Data Portals
DANE (Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística) – Demographics, economy, population, employment.
Banco de la República de Colombia – Economic indicators, inflation, GDP, monetary policy.
MinHacienda (Ministerio de Hacienda y Crédito Público) – Fiscal policy, public debt, macroeconomic reports.
Departamento Nacional de Planeación (DNP) – Development plans, investment projects, policy data.
World Bank Data – Colombia – International indicators for development, economy, and infrastructure.
IMF – Colombia – Macroeconomic outlook, Article IV consultations, inflation data.
ICEX (España) – Market reports, commercial risk assessments, and import/export guidance for Colombia.
Humanitarian Data Exchange – Colombia – Datasets on displacement, conflict, and humanitarian response.
OEC (Observatory of Economic Complexity) – Trade and economic data with visualizations.
Comtrade (UN) – International trade data for Colombia.
ReliefWeb – Colombia – Humanitarian and crisis updates from UN OCHA and partners.
UNDP Colombia – Socioeconomic development data and human indicators.
OECD – Colombia Country Data – Governance, taxation, and investment environment metrics.
Trading Economics – Colombia – Economic indicators and forecasts.
OAS (Organization of American States) – Colombia – Reports and resolutions on democracy, governance, and conflict.
Colombian Geological Service (Servicio Geológico Colombiano) – Mining zones, seismic data, and natural resources.
Invest in Colombia (ProColombia) – Trade, FDI, export data.
DANE Geoportal – Spatial socioeconomic data layers.
Company Registries
RUES (Registro Único Empresarial y Social) – The Registro Único Empresarial (RUE) is a government database in Colombia that serves as the Unique Business Registry. It is managed by the Chambers of Commerce in Colombia and contains information about all legally registered businesses in the country.
Cámara de Comercio de Bogotá – Local chamber managing company registrations and mercantile certificates.
DIAN (Dirección de Impuestos y Aduanas Nacionales) – Taxpayer registry and customs administration (verify NIT).
SECOP (Sistema Electrónico de Contratación Pública) – Government procurement platform for contracts and suppliers.
Superintendencia de Sociedades – Corporate regulator supervising companies, insolvency, and compliance.
OpenCorporates – International database with Colombian company records.
Infobel Colombia – Business and phone directory listings.
Bureau van Dijk (Orbis) – Colombia – Comprehensive corporate database.
OpenSanctions Colombia - Contains 26,835 entities connected with Colombia. This may include sanctioned entities, politically-exposed persons (PEPs), and their close associates, or entities involved in criminal activity.
Land & Property Records
Superintendencia de Notariado y Registro (SNR) – National registry for property deeds, ownership, and mortgages.
IGAC (Instituto Geográfico Agustín Codazzi) – Geospatial and cadastral data on properties and land value.
Catastro Multipropósito – Government open data on land use, parcels, and ownership.
People Search & Civil Registry
Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil – National registry for identity documents, births, and marriages.
CNE (Consejo Nacional Electoral) – Electoral registry for voter information and polling locations.
Colombia Genealogy (FamilySearch) – Historical registry and genealogy information for Colombian families.
Social Searcher – Social media multi-platform search tool for OSINT research.
Interpol Red Notices – List of international fugitives and wanted persons in Colombia.
OpenSanctions Colombia - Contains 26,835 entities connected with Colombia. This may include sanctioned entities, politically-exposed persons (PEPs), and their close associates, or entities involved in criminal activity.
(Guide) Colombia People Search
Litigation & Regulatory
Rama Judicial – Consulta de Procesos – Searchable court case database for civil, criminal, and administrative cases.
Corte Constitucional – Constitutional court rulings and public decisions.
Consejo de Estado – Administrative law and public official case rulings.
Corte Suprema de Justicia – Highest court for civil, labor, and criminal cases.
Contraloría General de la República – Fiscal oversight and public sector audit body.
Procuraduría General de la Nación – Oversight of public officials and disciplinary actions.
Defensoría del Pueblo – Human rights institution and citizen complaint office.
Human Rights / NGO Sources
Dejusticia – Colombian legal think tank on human rights, democracy, and social justice.
Human Rights Watch – Colombia – Reports and alerts on rights issues and conflict.
Amnesty International – Colombia – Reports on human rights abuses, displacement, and conflict.
Fundación Ideas para la Paz (FIP) – Research center on peacebuilding and conflict analysis.
Transparencia por Colombia – Anti-corruption NGO, national chapter of Transparency International.
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) – Regional human rights body.
UN Human Rights Office – Colombia – UN reports and updates on rights and governance.
International Crisis Group – Colombia Reports – Conflict and peace process analysis.
Peace Brigades International – Colombia Project – Protection for human rights defenders.
Sanctions, Financial Crime & PEPs
Global Financial Integrity – Reports on illicit financial flows involving Colombia.
OpenSanctions – Database of politically exposed persons (PEPs), sanctioned individuals, and criminal watchlists related to Colombia.
OFAC Sanctions List Search – U.S. Treasury’s consolidated sanctions search tool for Colombian entities and individuals.
OSAC (Overseas Security Advisory Council) – Colombia – U.S. State Department reports and security assessments for private-sector and diplomatic personnel.
Transparency International – Colombia – Anti-corruption indexes and governance data.
Crime & Security OSINT Sources
DEA Press Releases – Official communications and law enforcement updates regarding Colombia.
FBI – Colombia Fugitives List – FBI wanted persons database including Colombian nationals and transnational organized crime suspects.
Interpol – Colombia Red Notices – International wanted persons alerts searchable by nationality and offense.
UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) – Colombia – Official statistics and reports on drug trafficking, organized crime, and law enforcement activities.
OSAC (Overseas Security Advisory Council) – U.S. State Department’s public-private security information network for Colombia.
Global Peace Index – Annual ranking of countries by peace, security, and violence indicators.
Numbeo Crime Index (Colombia) – User-reported data on crime, safety, and corruption perceptions by city.
World Prison Brief – Colombia – Data on incarceration rates, prison population, and penitentiary conditions.
Temblores ONG – Colombian NGO documenting police violence, human rights abuses, and security-related protests.
Transparency International – Colombia – Reports on corruption, governance, and institutional integrity.
CERAC (Centro de Recursos para el Análisis de Conflictos) – Research institute specializing in conflict, violence, and demobilization data.
Fundación Paz y Reconciliación (PARES) – Monitors criminal actors, governance, and peace process evolution.
Foro Penal equivalents – Colombian NGOs monitoring political detentions and judicial abuse cases.
World Justice Project – Colombia Rule of Law Index – Comparative legal performance indicators related to corruption and safety.
Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime – Reports and analysis on Colombian criminal networks.
United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) – Colombia disarmament and weapons control data.
Global Organized Crime Index – Colombia Profile – Global Initiative’s country report on criminal networks and state resilience.
InSight Crime – Colombia Mining / Illegal Economies - Direct coverage of illicit mining and gold trade.
Guerrilla & Armed Groups Communication Channels (for monitoring purposes only)
ELN (Ejército de Liberación Nacional) – Colombia’s oldest active guerrilla group, uses propaganda and ideological messaging. Official site publishes communiqués and statements.
Rodrigo Londoño (TimoComunes) – Former FARC commander, now political leader of the Comunes party, occasionally comments on dissident activities.
Clan del Golfo (AGC – Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia) – Paramilitary-criminal network communicating via leaflets, WhatsApp/Telegram, and regional media leaks.
EPL Remnants (Los Pelusos) – Fragmented insurgent remnants operating in Norte de Santander, use pamphlets and graffiti for local influence.
Instituto Kroc – Notre Dame – Independent research center tracking implementation of the 2016 Peace Accord and armed group activity.
Cazadores de Fake News (Colombiacheck) – Fact-checking and disinformation monitoring initiative exposing false guerrilla communiqués and propaganda.
Maps & Geospatial Sources
IDEAM (Instituto de Hidrología, Meteorología y Estudios Ambientales) – Environmental, hydroclimatic, and land use data.
Geoportal IGAC – Spatial data viewer for cadastral and geographic information.
Google Earth / Timelapse – Historical satellite imagery for environmental or territorial analysis.
Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX) – Colombia Maps, Datasets and shapefiles on humanitarian operations and internal displacement.
ReliefWeb – Colombia Maps, Updated crisis and response maps (OCHA).
Mapillary – Street-Level Imagery (Colombia) – Crowdsourced imagery for on-ground verification.
OpenStreetMap – Colombia – Editable open-source map data.
Old Maps of Colombia (David Rumsey Map Collection) – Historical cartography archives.
USGS Earth Explorer – Satellite and elevation data for Colombia.
Sentinel Hub EO Browser – Satellite imagery for monitoring deforestation, agriculture, and conflict zones.
Think Tanks
Government-Affiliated / Public Policy Institutes
Departamento Nacional de Planeación (DNP) – Government policy and development research.
Fundación para la Educación Superior y el Desarrollo (Fedesarrollo) – Semi-official economic policy research center.
Instituto de Ciencia Política Hernán Echavarría Olózaga (ICP) – Public policy and governance (often collaborates with ministries).
Independent / Non-Government Think Tanks
Dejusticia – Legal, human rights, and democratic governance research.
Fundación Ideas para la Paz (FIP) – Conflict and peace process analysis.
CERAC (Centro de Recursos para el Análisis de Conflictos) – Armed conflict and violence research.
Fundación Paz y Reconciliación (PARES) – Organized crime, governance, and peacebuilding.
Transparencia por Colombia – Anti-corruption NGO, TI’s national chapter.
Corporación Arco Iris – Security, peace, and conflict research.
Local Journalism & Media Landscape
Pro-Government / Pro-Petro Outlets
Media generally aligned with the current government or sympathetic to leftist/“progressive” agendas.
El Espectador – Balanced but increasingly favorable toward Petro’s reforms.
Canal Institucional – Official government news and programs.
RTVC Noticias – State-run broadcaster, covers government priorities.
Telesur Colombia (regional feed) – Left-aligned, Pan-Latin network.
Opposition / Anti-Government, Pro-Uribe, Conservative & Right-Leaning Press
Critical of Petro’s administration and aligned with right or center-right perspectives.
Semana – Conservative editorial line, strong opposition to Petro.
El Colombiano – Conservative, based in Medellín.
RCN Radio & RCN Noticias – Center-right national broadcaster.
La FM (RCN Group) – Center-right coverage, investigative programs.
La República – Pro-business and economically liberal.
El Nuevo Siglo – Conservative newspaper focused on political analysis.
Independent & Investigative Media
Neutral or critical of all sides; investigative or civil-society-driven.
La Silla Vacía – Investigative journalism, political and power mapping.
Cuestión Pública – Investigative outlet exposing corruption.
Cambio Colombia – Independent digital magazine founded by journalists and academics.
Vorágine – Longform investigative journalism on human rights and corruption.
La Liga Contra el Silencio – Alliance of independent reporters on censorship and violence.
El Armadillo – Local independent reporting from Medellín.
El Diario (El Diario de Bogotá) — regional/national news (added to Independent / Local press).
NTN24 Colombia — TV news channel (added to Opposition / Right-leaning press where appropriate; widely used across the region).
El Tiempo – Colombia’s largest mainstream daily (centrist).
Fact-Checking & Verification Initiatives
Colombiacheck – Colombia’s primary fact-checking outlet.
Cazadores de Fake News (Colombia) – Independent OSINT collective tracking disinformation.
La Silla Vacía “Detector de Mentiras” – Fact-checking section of La Silla Vacía.
AFP Factual Colombia – Regional branch of AFP’s verification program.
First Draft News (LatAm Hub) – Disinformation training and monitoring projects in Colombia.
BOGOTÁ Digital Verification Hub (Meta / Chequeado Collaboration) – Social media rumor tracking.
Ground News — global news aggregator with bias and coverage comparison tools (added to Fact-Checking & Verification).
Dark Web & Illicit Marketplace Monitoring
Use with legal compliance and ethical constraints only.
Ahmia – Search engine for .onion domains.
OnionSearchEngine – Crawls Tor network content.
Dark.fail – Mirrors and indexes of darknet marketplaces.
Reddit – Deep/Dark Web Watchlists – OSINT on dark web marketplaces.
DuckDuckGo — privacy search engine (useful for general privacy-focused searching; also provides a Tor .onion gateway).
Miscellaneous & Global OSINT Tools
Wikileaks – Colombia
CIA World Factbook – Colombia
ImportGenius – Customs and trade records
Bellingcat – Investigative OSINT reports and analysis
OEC (Observatory of Economic Complexity) – Colombia trade and industry visualizations.
Transparency International – Colombia
Global Financial Integrity (GFI) – Reports on illicit financial flows.
Internet Archive – Colombia Content – Archived websites, censored material, and datasets.
Want more tools? Check out our full collection of OSINT resources here: https://unishka.com/resources/
If we’ve missed any good sources, just drop us a comment or send an email to abawer@unishka.com — we’ll make sure to add them to the toolkit!
We extend our sincere thanks to Mikel Viteri, an OSINT researcher, for creating this toolkit and partnering with UNISHKA on the development of future toolkits.