Colombian President Santos wins Nobel Peace Prize: VIDEO
Colombian President Santos wins Nobel Peace Prize
Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos dedicated his Nobel Peace Prize to the victims of his
country's civil war, which he has worked to end through a contested peace accord with FARC rebels. source theeastafrican.co.ke
Kim Hjelmgaard , USA TODAY 11:37 a.m. EDT October 7, 2016
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday "for his resolute efforts to bring the country's more than 50-year-long civil war to an end."
The Nobel committee said the prize "should also been seen as a tribute to the Colombian people who, despite great hardships and abuses, have not given up hope of a just peace."
An accord between Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, recently broke down after it did not pass a national referendum. The civil war has cost the lives of at least 220,000 Colombians and displaced close to six million people. Results showed 50.2% opposed the deal; 49.8% favored it.
"The fact that a majority of the voters said 'No' to the peace accord does not necessarily mean that the peace process is dead. The referendum was not a vote for or against peace," the committee said in its citation.
"This is a great, great recognition for my country," Santos said in an interview with the Nobel Foundation. "I receive this award in their name: the Colombian people who have suffered so much in this war," he said. "Especially the millions of victims that have suffered in this war that we are on the verge of ending."
Negotiators including an envoy sent by President Obama have returned to Cuba to try to salvage a peace agreement that was several years in the making.
FARC commander Timoleón Jiménez congratulated Santos in a tweet, saying "the only award we want is peace with social justice."
Syria's "White Helmets" who rescue victims of the civil war there and Greek islanders from the village of Skala Sikaminias were among the 376 nominees — 228 individuals and 148 organizations. There was also speculation that the prize would go to Ernest Moniz and Ali Akbar Saleh, the American and Iranian energy ministers who worked on the landmark nuclear agreement between Iran and the world powers.
In all, 97 peace prizes have been awarded to 130 laureates since 1901. Yet only 16 women have been given the prestigious prize worth $930,000, which is chosen by a five-person committee picked by Norway's parliament.
Santos, 65, was born in Bogota, comes from one of Colombia's wealthiest families and is Harvard-educated. He is married and has two sons and a daughter.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/10/07/nobel-peace-prize-2016-winner-announced/91719002
