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U.S. NEWS A3
Friday 5 February 2016

Obama says U.S. to help Colombia rebuild

JOSH LEDERMAN President Barack Obama shakes hands with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos during
Associated Press their meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nudging Colombia toward a peace
deal that’s finally within reach, President Barack Obama Associated Press.
committed the United States on Thursday to helping the
battle-scarred nation rebuild after half a century of guer-
rilla conflict.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos came to the
White House on the verge of a historic truce with the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, that
promises to end Latin America’s longest-running armed
conflict. Facing the daunting task of reconstruction, San-
tos secured promises of financial help from Obama, who
said the U.S. “will be your partner in waging peace.”
“In short, a country that was on the brink of collapse is
now on the brink of peace,” Obama said, hosting Santos
for a reception after an Oval Office meeting. “In Colom-
bia today, there is hope.”
Obama said he planned to ask Congress for some $450
million in U.S. assistance for Colombia in his final budget,
acceding to Santos’ request that the U.S. increase its aid
to the country this year. He announced that the 15-year-
old Plan Colombia, a $10 billion U.S. program to fight in-
surgency and the narcotics trade, would soon conclude.
In its stead, Obama said the U.S. would launch a new
program called Peace Colombia aimed at helping rein-
tegrate FARC members into society and expand the gov-
ernment’s reach into blighted areas that had long been
ceded to the guerrilla group.
The president’s bid to shore up an elusive peace accord
came at a pivotal time for Colombia, with billions needed
in the coming years to build roads, schools and health
care facilities as it completes its transformation from vio-
lence and chaos to relative stability and prosperity.
For the U.S., it’s a moment of reflection, with Plan Colom-
bia’s record of helping stabilize the country tainted by a
legacy of extrajudicial killings by Colombia’s military and
human rights abuses the U.S. says are still a matter of pro-
found concern.
“We all know that it’s easier to start wars than to end
them,” Obama said. “But after half a century of wrench-
ing conflict, the time has come for peace.”
As part of the nascent Peace Colombia, the U.S. will
team up with Norway on a de-mining effort aimed at rid-
ding Colombia of land mines within five years. The White
House also said the U.S. would partner with Colombia
on joint research into the Zika virus, which it little under-
stood but stoking widespread fear as it spread across Lat-
in America.
Along with appeals for cash, Santos brought another
request with him to the Oval Office: the removal of the
FARC from the U.S. list of terrorist groups once a deal is
struck. As part of the talks, the FARC has renounced kid-
napping and declared a unilateral truce while demand-
ing its removal from the terror list, which includes al-Qaida
and the Islamic State.
Bernard Aronson, the U.S. special envoy to the talks, said
the U.S. would consider removing FARC once it has re-
nounced violence, given up weapons and ceased hos-
tile actions toward American citizens and interests — but
not before.
Although Congress must approve any funds that Obama
requests, aid for Colombia has traditionally enjoyed bi-
partisan support, as the U.S. seeks to back stability in the
country that become America’sstaunchest ally in the re-
gion. Of the $450 million, about $390 million would be in
foreign aid, with the rest of the funds in humanitarian as-
sistance and Pentagon counter-narcotic programs.
Ahead of the visit, Santos didn’t disclose the exact sum
he was seeking from the U.S., but he appeared satisfied
with Obama’s offer, which represents an increase over
recent years.q