Colombian presidential candidate Antanas Mockus on Saturday called on the country’s security forces and private sector to fight a “clean” war against the FARC.
According to the Green Party candidate, a “clean” war “will give us legitimacy” in the war against illegal armed groups like the FARC.
Mockus calculated that in recent years between 5.2% and 6.3% of Colombia’s national budget was used for war instead of development.
However, the presidential hopeful said he did not think that military spending will go down in the coming four to six years as it will take that long for the FARC to be willing to lay down their arms and negotiate peace.
Meanwhile, Mockus called on all those fighting against the FARC “to wage the war and win it in the cleanest way, even though it costs two to three times more than using illegal strategies.”
Mockus recommends “winning it in a clean way because it is legitimate.”
Mockus is one of the front-runners for the 2010-2014 presidency. His main opponent is former Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos, under whose command the Colombian army was accused of murdering more than 2,000 civilians and committing other human rights violations.
