From: Tobacco Reporter
Turning swords into tobacco
Coltabaco S.A.S., Colombia’s biggest tobacco company, is one of hundreds of Colombian businesses that are employing former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in an effort to integrate them into the society against which they previously fought, according to a story by John Otis for Bloomberg News.
When Colombia’s government signed a peace treaty with FARC last fall, it meant more than an end to a 52-year conflict that had left an estimated 220,000 people dead and forced more than five million civilians from their homes. It also meant 7,000 guerrillas would have a chance to disarm and enter the workforce.
