International Business

Rebels Cost Colombia $12.5 Billion, Study Says: Guerrillas have cost the country that amount during the last five years because of lost production, higher defense spending, kidnapping and extortion, the government study found. The costs amount to 4.1% of Colombia’s gross domestic product for the five years from 1990 to 1994, according to the study by the National Planning Department. Loss of human life accounted for 55% of the losses, the report says. The figure was derived from an estimate of the economy’s lost production from those slain in rebel violence.