The US Ambassador to Colombia yesterday visited an IOM project
designed to reintegrate demobilized combatants into civil society.

The IOM-managed project, located in the municipality of Puerto
Triunfo in the Department of Antioquia, was created as part of a
partnership between the US Agency for International Development
(USAID) and a Foundation set up by the Cementos Argos Company.

The two donors provided financial support to help in the
economic and social reintegration of more than 300 ex-combatants
who are direct beneficiaries and another 1,600 who will benefit
indirectly.

Almost 30 per cent of the beneficiaries are men and women who
were part of illegal armed groups and are now undergoing
reintegration into civilian life.

A group of 85 families are already growing chili peppers on 30
hectares of land on the Hacienda Nápoles, a property that
belonged to the notorious head of the Medellin drug cartel, Pablo
Escobar, and is now owned by the Colombian Government.

During the inauguration of the plant where some 480 tonnes of
chili peppers will be processed every year, Ambassador William
Brownfield said: “It's ironic that 15 years ago the Hacienda
Nápoles was a place that only generated criminal behavior,
and today it is a center of productivity, progress, education and
the promise of a better future.” 

The economic success of the families involved in the project is
guaranteed by Comexa Foods Company, a strategic partner of the
project, which has agreed to purchase the entire
production. 

The participants will earn an average of USD 275 per month
during the first year, and approximately USD 325 per month from the
second year on.  The families will also receive technical
training and develop structures to guarantee the long-term
sustainability of the project once IOM assistance is finished.

Ambassador Brownfield was accompanied by José Alberto
Vélez, President of Cementos Argos, the fourth largest
cement producer in Latin America, and IOM Chief of Mission,
José Ángel Oropeza. 

The project, which is part of the Government's social
reintegration policy for demobilized persons, led by the
Presidential High Commissioner for Reintegration, will also be
carried out in Puerto Nare (Department of Antioquia) and San Onofre
(Department of Sucre) where more than 80 hectares of chili peppers
will be planted.  The total estimated production for the first
year in the three locations is estimated at 1,480 tonnes.

The public-private partnership created by IOM in 2006 with
Cementos Argos and USAID supports economic and social recovery for
persons reintegrating into civilian life and the residents of the
host communities. 

More than 31,000 men and women are in the process of
reintegrating into civilian life following the demobilization of
certain illegal armed groups, achieved through negotiations with
the Colombian Government.

For more information, please contact:

Jorge Andres Gallo

IOM Bogota

Tel: 57.311 5619495 or 57.1.5946410 ext. 142

E-mail: "mailto:jgallo@iom.int">jgallo@iom.int