President Barack Obama said he will ask the US Congress for more than $450mn in aid to help Colombia make good on “an incredible moment of promise” and implement a peace accord aimed at ending Latin America’s longest war.
“After half a century of wrenching conflict, the time has come for peace,” said Obama, after meeting with Colombian President Juan Manual Santos.
Obama said the aid would help with counterterrorism and narcotics issues, and education and retraining programmes to help reintegrate into society members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), a leftist rebel group.
In addition, the US government will commit $33mn to a global programme to help the country deal with a legacy of land mines, he said.
“Just as the US has been Colombia’s partner in a time of war, I indicated to President Santos we will be your partner in waging peace,” Obama said at a White House reception.
The fight between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), a leftist rebel group, has killed more than 220,000 people and displaced millions since it began in 1964.
Three previous attempts at a peace accord failed, but after four years of talks, the government and Farc are on the verge of a deal.
“All of that requires human resources and financial resources,” said Douglass Cassel of the University of Notre Dame, who has been an adviser to Santos for the past year.
A jump in US aid is “fundamental” for peace, particularly given a 20% hit to Colombia’s budget from the plunge in oil prices, Cassel said in an interview.
The new aid programme will be called “Peace Colombia,” Obama said - a play on “Plan Colombia,” which provided $10bn in aid between 2000 and 2015.
The new programme would be about 25% more than what the US gave Colombia in 2016.
“The government of Colombia will do everything it can, but it’s clear that it doesn’t have sufficient resources on its own to do the job the way it ought to be done without significant support from the US and the European Union,” Cassel said.
Obama, a Democrat, will ask the Republican-controlled US Congress to approve funds for the programme in his budget next week. Traditionally, aid to the nation has been supported by lawmakers and presidents from both parties.


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