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Colombia to Speed Nearly $400M in Social Investment for Violence-hit Region

Reuters

   BOGOTA - Colombia said on Tuesday it would speed social investment of
   $391.6 million earmarked for southwestern Cauca province, where
   indigenous communities and political candidates have been recent
   targets for violence by crime gangs and dissident rebels.

   The spending will include subsidies for poor families, road
   construction, help for economic projects and improvements in health
   coverage, education and nutrition.

   Twelve people have been killed in two attacks by armed groups in the
   province over the past week, including seven members of indigenous
   communities.

   In September, mayoral candidate Karina Garcia was killed along with
   five others in the town of Suarez.

   "The common enemy is drug trafficking and that's why the idea is to
   fight drug trafficking not just with closer security but also
   socially," Peace Commissioner Miguel Ceballos told journalists.

   President Ivan Duque last week ordered the armed forces to send 2,500
   personnel as reinforcements to the province, a hub for the production
   and transport of coca and marijuana, joining the 8,000 soldiers already
   stationed there.

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