By Julia Symmes Cobb
BOGOTA (Reuters) – The economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic will not put at risk funding for programs created under Colombia’s peace deal with the former FARC rebels, the government said on Friday.
The country signed the accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas in late 2016, ending the group’s role in five decades of conflict which killed more than 260,000 people.
The twin ills of low oil prices and a months-long quarantine meant to stem coronavirus infections look set to cause a recession. The government says the economy will likely contract 5.5% this year.
But funding for peace programs is safe, Emilio Archila, the presidential adviser charged with overseeing implementation, told journalists.
“Will the (funding) sources destined for the implementation process be specifically affected, the answer is no,” Archila said. “The finance minister was absolutely categorical when they asked him in congress.”
Funding for victim support and reparations will not be on the table, Archila said, and in any case is not politically viable.
“No one from the government has any intention of reducing the support that there is for victims, and I don’t think it would even be politically possible, so there we are relaxed.”
Money meant to support demobilized fighters as they look for jobs and settle into civilian life is promised by the European Union for the next several years, he added, while programs for former conflict areas are also unlikely to be affected.
The transitional justice tribunal, truth commission and special search unit for the disappeared are also safe from possible austerity.
“The president and the minister have said many times they will not have any reduction,” Archila said.
Expansion of crop substitution efforts meant to reduce cultivation of coca, the base ingredient in cocaine, would, however, require more money, he added.
The accord has faced some significant hurdles, including the rearming of several former commanders and killings of former combatants.
(Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
