- Title: Colombians react to President Juan Manuel Santos winning Nobel Peace Prize
- Date: 7th October 2016
- Summary: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (OCTOBER 7, 2016) (REUTERS) EARLY MORNING TRAFFIC ON THE ROAD A WOMAN CROSSING THE ROAD IN FRONT OF A BUS STREET VENDORS PREPARING BREAKFAST FOOD CLOSE-UP OF AREPAS (CORN PATTIES) BEING PREPARED STREET VENDOR PREPARING FOOD (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MECHANIC ENGINEER, PAULO BOLIVAR, SAYING: "I think it is excellent that (Santos) has won the Nobel peace prize. I think it is more important for the country that it gives greater coherence to the peace process. I think it is very good and I hope to see results from the opposition. But I think it is really great he has won the Nobel peace prize." PEOPLE WALKING IN THE STREET PEOPLE WALKING AND TALKING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CONSTRUCTION WORKER, JESUS MENDOZA, SAYING: "I think it is a farse that that man has won the prize, I think it is a farse." PEOPLE WALKING IN THE STREET
- Embargoed: 22nd October 2016 13:22
- Keywords: Nobel Peace Prize Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos FARC peace agreement
- Location: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA
- City: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA
- Country: Colombia
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA001530B8LJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Colombians on the streets in the capital Bogota demonstrated the state of division the nation finds itself in, in response to news that President Juan Manuel Santos won the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday (October 7) for his efforts to end a 52-year-old war with Marxist rebels.
The surprise choice comes after Colombians rejected a peace accord in a plebiscite last Sunday.
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.
"I think it is excellent that (Santos) has won the Nobel peace prize. I think it is more important for the country that it gives greater coherence to the peace process. I think it is very good and I hope to see results from the opposition. But I think it is really great he has won the Nobel peace prize," said Mechanic Engineer, Paulo Bolivar.
Many who voted against the accord on Sunday, believing it was too lenient on FARC rebels, were angered by the news.
"I think it is a farse that that man has won the prize, I think it is a farse," said construction worker, Jesus Mendoza.
The award excluded FARC guerrilla leader Rodrigo Londono, better known by his nom de guerre Timochenko, who signed the peace accord with Santos in Cartagena on Sept. 26.
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.
Millions have been displaced and many beg on the streets of the capital, while economic potential has been held up in the mostly rural nation.
The committee quoted Santos as saying the award would help further the peace process.
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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