Mike's Bogota Blog

Those men you see every weekday along Calle Jimenez near Carrera 7 are emerald traders. They show off, price and trade em...

Guaqueros , or fortune hunters, outside the Puerto Arturo mine. (Photo: Semana.com ) In an industry plagued by illegality, unsafe ...

Working the emeralds. This afternoon, I visited one of the many emerald workshops around El Rosario Plaza. S mall place in a no...

Taking a stand. Emerald dealers march yesterday on Plaza Rosario. Emerald traders examine loose emeralds  on the sidewalk by Carre...

Jimenez and Ave. Septima, Bogotá's open-air emerald market.  When an emerald dealer was gunned down in broad daylinght last Thur...

Victor Carranza with one of his giant emeralds. The death of Victor Carranza, known as the emerald czar, may mark the end of a wild...

An emerald seller displays some inexpensive stones on Bogotá's 'emerald corner.' Victor Carranza with a big find. ...

Eye on the stone:Studying an emerald in Bogotá's open-air emerald market.  In addition to being Bogotá's historical and cultu...