INTERVIEW-Colombia needs international money to fund peace deal -finance minister
Sat Sep 26, 2015 4:41pm EDT
INTERVIEW-Colombia needs international money to fund peace deal -finance minister
NEW YORK, Sept 26 | By Mica Rosenberg
Colombia will need "significant" investment from the international community to pay for the historic peace deal promised within six months between Marxist guerrillas and the government, the country's finance minister said in an interview on Saturday.
This week Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, pledged to end a war that has killed 220,000 and displaced millions over half a century.
"Peace is closer to us now than it has ever been in five decades," said Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas. "But there will be costs." He said the government would be coming up with an estimate of how much reconstruction could cost also within six months.
The Colombian government and the rebels have been negotiating for nearly three years but this week in Havana, Cuba, the two sides agreed to create tribunals to try former combatants, resolving one of the most significant hurdles to peace.
More:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/26/colombia-economy-peace-idUSL1N11W0F120150926?rpc=401