President Obama has agreed to seek financial support from Congress to support the Colombian government in the implementation of a peace resolution with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, rebel group.
The resolution, Peace Colombia, would end 50 years of conflict in the nation. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said he expects to sign the deal next month, but both FARC and the Colombian government have agreed to a March 23 deadline, reports the BBC’s Natalio Cosby:
"This is really a step that makes the process irreversible," Mr Santos told the BBC on Wednesday. He added the rebels also agreed to "cut every link that they have with drug trafficking", as part of the accord. "They recognise that they have financed themselves through drug trafficking, or taxing the drug traffickers. That's what they say. "And they will in a way help us, especially in those remote areas, to convince the peasants to switch to legal crops," he said.
Under the deal with the 52-year-old group, the FARC will agree to lay down arms and join in a legal political process. In addition, the rebels have agreed to cut links with drug trafficking.
Despite the pending success of the resolution, Presidents Santos recognizes this is only the beginning of the peace process, saying the work to be done after violent conflict has ceased is, “more difficult than the process itself.”
The involvement of the international community has moved the years-long negotiations along.
“The peace talks have been underway for a couple of years now, since November of 2012 and what brought the FARC to the table is really the actions of the previous president as well as the involvement of the United States in terms of giving aid and assistance,” University of Oklahoma College of International Studies assistant dean Rebecca Cruise told KGOU'sWorld Views.
The United Nations has also expressed support, voting last week to accept a joint request from the FARC and Colombian government to appoint a mission to assist in overseeing the finalization of the resolution, reports the BBC.
No specific dollar amounts were announced, but a substantial amount of U.S. financial aid will go toward supporting legal and government systems in rural areas of Colombia that will be transitioning from FARC to Colombian government control, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson told The Washington Times.
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