Bogotá, October 2 (teleSUR-RHC)-- Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos struck back Thursday at far-right former president Alvaro Uribe, accusing him of deliberately stirring up fears amongst Colombians about the ongoing peace negotiations with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Uribe has been the loudest and fiercest critic of the ongoing peace process between the government and Colombia's largest guerrilla army, talks which reached a milestone moment last month when the parties reached an agreement regarding transitional justice. 
       
"Mr. Uribe does not support the peace process because he lives from manipulating fear, and war is the best environment to generate fear," Santos told a crowd at Columbia University in New York City.

Santos, who served as Uribe's defense minister before being elected president, has gone from being the former president's ally to one of his greatest rivals with the two often sparring with each other through the media.
    
Santos is not alone in his criticism, Colombian Senator Ivan Cepeda, a strong proponent of the peace process, told teleSUR Wednesday that Uribe was a threat to peace.

President Santos announced after a meeting Thursday with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that the United States had committed to contribute to a fund to help implement the peace deal. Kerry also praised Santo's “leadership” in securing a deal.

Shortly after the Colombian government reached an agreement on transitional justice with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, Minister of Internal Revenue Mauricio Cardenas requested the international community help fund post-conflict initiatives. 

Earlier this year, President Santos traveled to Europe in an effort to secure funding and landed a deal with the World Bank and Germany.

With the signing of an agreement concerning transitional justice, considered to be the most sensitive and contentious topic during negotiations, Colombians are growing hopeful that a final deal will soon be signed. 

The two parties agreed to have a final deal in place by late March and FARC Commander Timoleon Jimenez announced that he had ordered the command structures to cease military training and focus on political and cultural education instead.