Cambiar de empleo constituye, para un amplio sector de la población colombiana, una vía hacia mejores perspectivas económicas, mayor estabilidad y desarrollo profesional. De hecho, portales de empleo coinciden en que las principales motivaciones para buscar nuevas oportunidades están ligadas al deseo de escalar laboralmente.

Aunque obtener un ascenso requiere experiencia, logros medibles y habilidades blandas, hoy en día hay una competencia que sobresale: el dominio del inglés como segunda lengua.

De acuerdo con un informe de Statista, el inglés es el idioma más hablado del mundo, con alrededor de 1.400 millones de hablantes. A pesar de su relevancia global, en Colombia las evaluaciones nacionales muestran que cerca del 50% de los estudiantes terminan la educación media con bajo dominio del inglés, lo que limita su competitividad en un mercado laboral cada vez más exigente.

En un panorama donde el 70% de las empresas internacionales presentes en Colombia considera la fluidez en inglés como un criterio clave para seleccionar talento, de acuerdo con datos del Banco Mundial, citados en Forbes. La academia de idiomas Smart Medellín responde con programas intensivos que impulsan la movilidad profesional y la formación global.

Mario Cetina, director comercial, explica que Smart ha logrado consolidarse como una opción preferida para quienes desean fortalecer su dominio del inglés, o incluso optar por una formación trilingüe que incluye francés, alineada al Marco Común Europeo.

Además, la academia continúa innovando con su oferta educativa, como el próximo lanzamiento bajo la marca ‘Smart Flex’, una modalidad digital que incorpora clases en vivo adaptadas a las demandas actuales del mercado. Esta se complementa con cursos cortos de negocios y una preparación rigurosa para exámenes internacionales como el B1 First, B2 Preliminary y el MET.

Por otra parte, Óscar Coronado, director académico, afirma que Smart academia de idiomas ha otorgado en Colombia más de 43.529 certificados en niveles intermedios y avanzados de inglés en los últimos cinco años, lo que resalta su impacto significativo en la formación lingüística.

Smart se ha consolidado como una de las academias de idiomas más grandes de Colombia, con una presencia estratégica en diversas regiones como Antioquia, Cundinamarca, Santander, Meta, Atlántico, Valle del Cauca, Tolima, Caldas, Risaralda y Sucre, ampliando su alcance a jóvenes y adultos en todo el territorio nacional.

La metodología reconocida por las Secretarías de Educación Territoriales se basa en una estructura académica de alta calidad respaldada por materiales de enseñanza de prestigio, como los de Cambridge University Press y Cambridge Assessment. Esta alianza asegura que los estudiantes de la academia reciban formación alineada a los estándares internacionales, preparando a los futuros profesionales para los retos del mercado global.

Adicionalmente, el reconocimiento oficial como centro autorizado para la aplicación de exámenes internacionales de Cambridge y Michigan Language Assessment refuerza la confianza de quienes buscan certificaciones para estudiar en el extranjero, migrar o acceder a mejores oportunidades en el entorno laboral.

Los resultados se reflejan en testimonios de familias y alumnos que consolidan su futuro gracias a la formación bilingüe. Diana Duarte, directora comercial de la academia, destaca: “Equipos bilingües nos conectan con mercados internacionales y mejoran nuestra competitividad. Smart ya es la academia más grande del país”.

El manejo real del inglés abre puertas en sectores clave de la economía. Portafolio identifica al sector tecnológico, la enseñanza del propio idioma, la atención al cliente y los servicios de traducción y transcripción entre las carreras mejor remuneradas para quienes dominan el inglés en el país. Las cifras respaldan la tendencia:

• Salario anual de un perfil junior en tecnología: 30.000.000 COP aproximadamente (7.775 USD).
• Nivel medio: 78.000.000 COP aproximadamente (20.215 USD).
• Senior: 96.000.000 COP aproximadamente (24.880 USD).

También destacan oportunidades en la redacción de contenido en inglés y el sector turismo, así como la enseñanza presencial y en línea, en la que los honorarios pueden oscilar entre 5 y 20 USD aproximadamente por hora.

A former deputy to Lois Lerner — who oversaw the IRS division accused of targeting conservative groups during the Obama years — was placed on leave after lawmakers raised alarms that a new sub-department she was leading was becoming politicized.

In 2013, Lerner was hauled before Congress, where it was revealed her agency had wrongfully scrutinized tax-exempt applications related to the phrases «Tea Party,» «9/12» and «Constitution.» The Treasury’s inspector general later confirmed «inappropriate criteria» was used to target conservative groups and criticized ineffective oversight of systemic bias.

IRS Commissioner of Large Business and International Division Holly Paz – Lerner’s then-deputy – was placed on leave last week as lawmakers drew attention to a subordinate work-unit aimed at auditing pass-through businesses that Biden-era Commissioner Danny Werfel had created and assigned her to lead.

Werfel called the new work-unit a big step in «ensur[ing] the IRS holds the nation’s wealthiest filers accountable,» and Paz called it an «important change» in the IRS structure.

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However, by 2025, lawmakers, including Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., warned that the pass-thru-business compliance unit had transformed to be «motivated by ideology rather than principles of sound tax administration.»

«Pass-through entities form the bulk of Main Street businesses across the country. This includes countless family businesses, professional services firms, and real estate ventures that serve as the backbone of our local economies,» Blackburn and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., wrote to the Treasury in May.

Around that time, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa., warned Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that Paz’s team «has made tongue-in-cheek political comments,» including their stated wish to «make basis great again» – a phrase regarding taxation loss/gain that hearkens to President Donald Trump’s MAGA slogan.

In that regard, Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa., wrote to IRS Commissioner Billy Long in July that a Biden-era «basis-shifting transaction rule» had «extended the scope» of enforcement.

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Lois Lerner testifies. (AP File)

«American taxpayers and businesses deserve clear and consistent tax rules that allow them to confidently comply with the law,» Smucker wrote, adding he and Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., are seeking to have that rule «reconsidered» for the sake of unburdening «Main Street» businesses.

Chuck Flint, a former top aide to Blackburn and president of the Alliance for IRS Accountability, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that Paz’s past targeting of conservative groups makes her «unfit for government service.»

Flint said her statements to Congress and role as LB&I chief «places a cloud over the IRS.»

«Paz’s Biden-era pass-through unit is now bludgeoning conservative businesses with fines and must be disbanded. Commissioner Long is flexing his muscles on the IRS Deep State and sending a signal to rogue bureaucrats by placing Paz on leave.»

Blackburn warned in her letter to Bessent that an IRS news release referencing targeting «complex arrangements» lacked clear definitions and created the impression that legitimate business structures could be unfairly targeted based on legal structure versus actual tax compliance risk.

«Even more concerning, the announcement explicitly states that the bureaucratic changes were designed primarily to ‘achieve its goal of increased audit rates in this complex area’.»

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Former Rep. Billy Long, R-Mo., President Donald Trump’s nominee to be Internal Revenue Service commissioner. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

«This focus on increasing audits rather than improving compliance suggests an agenda-driven approach to enforcement,» Blackburn said.

In her letter, Ernst warned Bessent that Paz’s team members «have also undermined their appearance of impartiality by comparing legally acceptable transactions to obscene material, saying, ‘It’s one of those ‘You know it when you see it’ – a joking reference to [Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart’s] attempt to define pornography.

«This team is reportedly acting independently and duplicating existing IRS processes, wasting taxpayer money, and not coordinating with the pre-existing offices,» Ernst said.

«Most concerning of all, the new pass-through auditors even use a new template for requesting taxpayer information they’ve deemed ‘The Art of the IDR,’ (versus ‘The Art of the Deal’) which treats taxpayers as guilty until proven innocent.»

«Unfortunately, the Biden administration picked up right where Ms. Lerner and her team left off. On September 20, 2023, then-Commissioner Daniel Werfel announced, with language that resembled Democrat talking points, the creation of a duplicative new work unit [led by Paz] to specifically audit pass-through businesses and partnerships. The new office subjects these businesses to potentially two separate IRS examinations in the same year.

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«One would think Commissioner Werfel would go to great lengths to avoid hearkening back to previous scandals. Instead, he thumbed his nose at taxpayers by placing Lois Lerner’s deputy— Holly Paz—at the helm,» Ernst wrote.

Lerner was front-and-center during the Obama-era scandal, testifying before Congress as head of the tax-exempt organizations division, as a deluge of reports of targeting right-leaning nonprofits abounded.

During the 2013 investigation by the House Oversight Committee, Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Darrell Issa, R-Calif., demanded Paz answer for «inconsistencies» from a transcribed interview with committee staff involving statements about «intervention» against Tea Party groups.

A 2015 report by then-Senate Finance Committee leaders Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Ronald Wyden, D-Ore., found that in other cases, some liberal terminology was also flagged, including «ACORN,» «progressive» and «medical marijuana.»

«While handled poorly, groups on both sides of the political spectrum were treated the same in their efforts to secure tax-exempt status,» Wyden said at the time, while then-Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said Democrats should be equally outraged as Republicans.

Fox News Digital reached out to Treasury, the IRS and an email connected to Paz for comment.

As the world discusses the reality of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Fox News’ Bill Hemmer got a look inside a distribution site operated by the controversial U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

Fox News was the first outlet to witness a newly established distribution center operated mostly by former U.S. forces who coordinate with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Hemmer said that the sites are not without their problems or controversy, but that the Americans working with GHF are proud of what they have accomplished.

In terms of the status of Gaza, Hemmer said that Rafah was clearly decimated by the IDF. The southern Gazan city is where Israel believes Hamas had its headquarters and where the terror group held hostages taken nearly two years ago, on Oct. 7, 2023. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to be considering a full occupation of Gaza. If Israel makes this move, it would be a complete reversal of its policy dating back to 2005 when it pulled out of the enclave. Hostages’ loved ones have expressed opposition to the plan out of fear that it would put those still held captive in even more danger.

Palestinians who spoke with Hemmer said they were hungry, and tired of the war and of Hamas.

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«All this food here will be gone in about 15 minutes,» a GHF worker told Hemmer as the two stood in the middle of several palettes of food. «They’ll all come in, they flood in here, they have bags they’ll stuff the food into, throw the big bag over their shoulder and they’ll head out.»

The worker also told Hemmer that the organization allows Palestinians to remain on the GHF site for about an hour after it opens.

Hemmer’s visit comes as the organization faces international condemnation and a call from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for its «immediate dismantling.»

«Palestinians are paying the ultimate price of the international community’s legal, political and moral failure,» a UNHRC statement read, citing the opinions of several U.N. experts. One such expert named in the statement is Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, who has been repeatedly condemned by multiple governments, including the U.S., the U.K. and France, for making antisemitic statements.

Albanese and the other experts also say that GHF is «an utterly disturbing example of how humanitarian relief can be exploited for covert military and geopolitical agendas in serious breach of international law.»

A Palestinian woman carries a box as people seek aid supplies from the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), in the central Gaza Strip, Aug. 4, 2025. (REUTERS/Stringer)

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U.N. experts also claimed that Israeli forces and foreign military contractors indiscriminately fire at Palestinians seeking aid at GHF sites. However, GHF has consistently denied the use of force against civilians at its sites. On several occasions, the organization has sounded the alarm over threats emanating from Hamas against aid workers and seekers.

This aligns with a request GHF had for Fox News, which was to blur the faces of the Palestinians working with the organization out of fear of Hamas retribution.

Displaced Palestinians carry bags of humanitarian aid they received at a distribution center run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) at the so-called «Netzarim corridor» in the central Gaza Strip on Aug. 4, 2025.  (AFP via Getty Images)

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GHF says it has distributed over «106 million meals efficiently and directly» since May while pushing back on criticism and claims that its sites are dangerous. The organization insists that its goal is to feed Palestinians in need while bypassing Hamas, the terror group governing the war-torn enclave.

The aid organization recently received $30M from the Trump administration in addition to millions coming from donornations in the region.

Palestinians return with bags from a food distribution point run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) group, near the Netsarim corridor in the central Gaza Strip on Aug. 2, 2025.  (YAD BABA/AFP via Getty Images)

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Recently, the U.N. released its monthly infographic on UN2720 Mechanism for Gaza. In June 2025, the U.N. reported that out of its 1,090 aid trucks, only 47 arrived at an «intended civilian destination inside Gaza.» Meanwhile, the other 1,043 trucks were allegedly intercepted «either peacefully by hungry people or forcefully by armed actors» in Gaza.

At the request of the U.N., Israel will let limited commercial goods enter the enclave, according to Fox News Chief Foreign Correspondent Trey Yingst. This strategy is apparently aimed at getting more goods into Gaza markets, allowing those in need of free aid to get to it first.