US President Donald Trump will “personally take charge” of the pending congressional approval of a $450 million aid package for Colombia’s ongoing peace process, President Juan Manuel Santos said Saturday.
Santos’ conversation with Trump came one day after the Colombian president talked with US Vice President Mike Pence.
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While the new US president has been trying to exective radical domestic policy changes and foreign aid budget cuts, Colombia has engaged in a delicate peace process with the country’s largest and oldest Marxist rebel group, the FARC.
Part of the peace process’ 2017 budget, $450 million to be exact, had been promised by Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama with who Santos had a friendly personal relationship.
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Ahead of his election last year, Trump had promised to cut foreign aid “across the board,”not ruling out Colombia might be without support from its primary ally.
Ahead of his confirmation, Secretrary of State Rex Tillerson refuged to pledge to continue the support for the promised 2017 peace budget that has yet to be approved by US Congress.
Congress has long long been a bipartisan supporter of US foreign policy in Latin America.
Trump’s direct involvement releases pressure on the peace process as a reduction of aid could have diect and negative consequences for the already unstable peace in the South American country.
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The peace talks in Colombia, one of the United States’ staunchest partners in the hemisphere, has now reached the US president’s growing list of priorities.
“I asked [Trump] support for the approval in Congress of the Peace Colombia plan. He said he was very interested and would take charge personally,” Santos said on Twitter.
Additionally, Trump “invited me to the White House to talk and strengthen ties between our governments,” said the Colombian president.
Santos had long maintained a friendly relationship with Trump’s predecessor, but until Saturday had not received any White House confirmation of whether this year’s budget woukd be supported or not.
Colombian diplomats for weeks had try to establish contact with the incoming administration and Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas had even said US relationships would be maintained “under new rules.”
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The 10-year peace plan has a total price tag of approximately $44 billion, a large chunk of which has been extended as credit by the International Monetary Fund.
The process does not just seek to do away with its biggest guerrilla group, but implement reforms that seek to tackle what are considered the causes of political and drug fueled violence that has haunted the countries for omre than half a century.
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Nevertheless, the majority of the process’ proposed budget is still missing and will either have to come from Colombia’s own treasury or future agreements with foreign entities.