- Title: Newly minted Nobel Laureate promotes Colombian ceasefire extension to governors
- Date: 7th October 2016
- Summary: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (OCTOBER 7, 2016) (REUTERS TV) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT JUAN MANUEL SANTOS ENTERING CONFERENCE ROOM AND BEING APPLAUDED BY GOVERNORS FROM STATES ACROSS THE COUNTRY (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT, JUAN MANUEL SANTOS, SAYING: "With regards to the ceasefire that you ask to extend, of course this is my intention and it is my decision, but administrating a cease fire in these conditions is militarily very difficult, there are many risks, so the faster we can finalise these adjustments to begin the process and implement the agreements, which is the important part, the better it will be for everyone." VARIOUS OF SANTOS AND GOVERNORS APPLAUDING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRESIDENT OF THE COLOMBIAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNORS, DILIAN FRANCISCA, SAYING: "Today we governors of Colombia are coming together in an extraordinary session, firstly to congratulate President Santos for having been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize as a fair recognition of his work, effort, sacrifice and perseverance to achieve the peace that without a doubt is also a recognition of his family, the victims of the conflict and each and every Colombian." VARIOUS OF SANTOS RECEIVING A DOCUMENT OF CONGRATULATIONS FROM THE GOVERNORS AT ROUNDTABLE
- Embargoed: 22nd October 2016 20:08
- Keywords: Nobel prize Santos Bogota laureate peace
- Location: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA
- City: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA
- Country: Colombia
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001530DGEF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said he intended to extend a ceasefire with Marxist rebels but noted the complexity of the process, speaking after having accepted the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday (October 7).
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said Santos had brought one of the longest civil wars in modern history significantly closer to a peaceful solution, but there was still a danger the peace process could collapse after the agreement was rejected in a popular vote on Sunday.
Santos announced on Tuesday that a ceasefire, nullified by the vote, would extend until October 31, which has caused rebel and opposition leaders to question what will happen next.
"With regards to the ceasefire that you ask to extend, of course this is my intention and it is my decision, but administrating a ceasefire in these conditions is militarily very difficult, there are many risks, so the faster we can finalise these adjustments to begin the process and implement the agreements, which is the important part, the better it will be for everyone," Santos said at a meeting with governors from across the nation at the Presidential Palace in Bogota.
The governors presented Santos with an official document congratulating him for the award.
"Today we governors of Colombia are coming together in an extraordinary session, firstly to congratulate President Santos for having been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize as a fair recognition of his work, effort, sacrifice and perseverance to achieve the peace that without a doubt is also a recognition of his family, the victims of the conflict and each and every Colombian," said President of the Colombian Federation of Governors, Dilian Francisca.
More than 220,000 people have died on the battlefield or in massacres during the struggle between leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries and government troops.
Santos is the first Latin American to receive the peace prize since indigenous rights campaigner Rigoberta Menchu of Guatemala won in 1992, and is the second Colombian laureate after writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who won the literature prize in 1982. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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