That sounds... painful.
Guatemala will cut its army in half and slash the military budget to comply with peace accords that ended a 36-year civil war, the country’s president said Thursday. U.N. observers called the move the most significant policy change in Guatemala in decades, and praised plans to use funds cut from the military budget to bolster spending on health and education. President Oscar Berger plans to reduce the army from the current 27,000 soldiers to 15,500 in the next two months, said Berger’s defense adviser Otto Perez. Perez said the new size of Guatemala’s army will make it similar to the armed forces of other Central American nations. El Salvador’s army has 16,000 soldiers, Nicaragua’s has 14,500, and Honduras’ 12,000, Perez said. The 1960-96 civil war pitted leftist, largely Mayan guerillas against a series of military and civilian governments often supported by the United States. Binding peace accords overseen by U.N. officials, were signed in December 1996 in Guatemala City.
Sounds like Canada. Are we sure the left didn’t win? Recommendation: retire active duty military into the police force as the gang problem is getting out of hand in your country. They can keep the same guns. |