Colombian leader Juan Manuel Santos wins Nobel Peace Prize

[forest444]

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for his efforts to end a five-decade civil war that has killed more than 200,000 people — and said he received the award in the name of the Colombian people.

The award came just days after Colombian voters narrowly rejected the peace deal that Santos helped bring about. Nobel judges conspicuously did not honor his counterpart, Rodrigo Londoño, the leader of the rebels.

"The referendum was not a vote for or against peace," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said, insisting the peace process wasn't dead. "What the 'No' side rejected was not the desire for peace, but a specific peace agreement."

Santos said the Colombian people deserved the honor.

"Especially the millions of victims that have suffered in this war that we are on the verge of ending," Santos said in an interview posted on the Nobel Foundation's Facebook page. "We are very, very close. We just need to push a bit further to persevere."

Reacting to the award on Twitter, Londoño said "the only prize to which we aspire" is one of social justice for Colombia, without far-right militias or retaliation.

At: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/colombian-leader-juan-manuel-santos-wins-nobel-peace-prize/ar-BBx7A7m?li=BBnb7Kz&OCID=ansmsnnews11

[Judi Lynn]

1. He has worked so hard, and gained a filthy, evil enemy in Uribe, in the effort.

Best wishes to Juan Manuel Santos, winner of the Peace Prize. He has earned it.