Guatemala announced it will cut its military budget by 40 percent and reduce the size of its armed forces by at least the same percentage. The reduction is required to meet conditions laid down in the peace agreement which ended the civil war which ran from 1960 to 1996. The Guatemalan Army, which currently has just over 27,000 troops, will be cut back to 15,500 troops by June 2004. Budget that once went to the Army will be transferred to health and education.