"On the outskirts of Cartagena far from the brightly coloured facades of the old city and the 500-year-old fortress walls overlooking the Caribbean a crowd of about 300 people erupted into a roar. Given Colombians' passion for football, it could have been the celebration of a goal. But the cheers followed the bloody climax of bout in a cockfighting ring whose white padded walls were now splattered with blood."
"The Santa Maria cockfighting arena is one of the largest and most important venues for cockfighting in Cartagena and the department of Bolivar. The arena received 220 roosters from different areas of the city on 11 October 2025. Each of the rooster owners had to pay 1,000,000 Colombian pesos (about 193) for each one. As the mostly male bettors clinked cold drinks from ice buckets and collected their winnings,"
About 300 people gathered at a cockfighting ring on Cartagena’s outskirts where bouts left white padded walls splattered with blood. The Santa Maria arena received 220 roosters on 11 October 2025, with each owner paying 1,000,000 Colombian pesos (about 193) per bird. The evening featured more than 100 fights likely to finish by dawn as mostly male bettors cheered and workers cleared the ring between matches. A constitutional court banned cockfighting in September but allowed a three-year transition during which the government must provide alternative livelihoods for tens of thousands reliant on the practice. Breeders such as Ali Viveros, who breeds about 50 fighting cocks and sells specialised supplies, expressed horror and emphasized cockfighting as a cultural tradition.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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