Colombia to invest US$920mn under post-conflict program

President Iván Duque (pictured) has presented investments of over 3.3tn pesos (US$923mn) under Colombia’s Paz con Legalidad program.

Duque said the investments will go to projects with already secured financing.

Of the total, 1.8tn pesos will be for peace project investment agencies (OCAD Paz), 13bn pesos are for territorial development plans (PDET), 500bn pesos go to the works-for-taxes program, and 1tn pesos are for tertiary roads.

About 600bn pesos will be invested in tertiary roads this year. “If we add this to 2020 [spending] and to what we will have left of 2022, we will be talking about over 1tn pesos,” Duque said during the presentation of the program's results.

Other projects include water system improvements, replacement of illicit crops, irrigation systems, housing and electric system expansions.

Under the program, the government has improved and maintained 670km of roads, improved water access for 15,110 residents, connected 13,400 households to the energy grid, and invested provided US$71mn for housing subsidies.

Duque rejected criticism of his approach to the peace agreement with the Farc guerrilla amid a new wave of violence, saying that “we don’t play politics with peace.” But he admitted protecting former Farc members from retaliation remains a challenge.

Since the agreements were signed, 252 former Farc members have been assassinated, according to the UN Verification Mission.