The Colombian government is set to ask the United States for millions of dollars in additional aid as it nears a historic peace deal with the country's Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The negotiations could end South America's longest-running guerrilla conflict.

Colombia already receives about $300 million each year in U.S. aid. However, President Juan Manuel Santos will try to persuade President Barack Obama to raise that commitment to an annual $500 million for the next 10 years, the McClatchy newspaper group's Washington bureau reported.

Santos Needs to Sway Fiscally Conservative GOP

The Colombian leader is also trying to win over support in the Republican-controlled Congress, even though many financially conservative GOP heavyweights have suggested cuts to U.S. foreign aid. Santos is expected to argue that the United States has already sent important sums to his country during the last 15 years and that investment will be wasted without additional funds to establish lasting peace.

According to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Colombia "is not a typical aid recipient." The federal body is focused on addressing "the historic neglect of rural [areas]" that it says has fueled a parallel economy of drug trafficking, extortion, illegal mining, and other problems.

US Funds to Support Development, FARC Demobilization

If USAID were to receive additional funds tagged for Colombia, the money would likely be used to pay for regional development, and to demobilize and reintegrate some 7,000 FARC guerrillas into civilian life.

Michael Shifter, the president of the Inter-American Dialogue research center in Washington, warned that signing a deal would be much easier -- and less costly -- than actually transforming Colombian society.

"Even if everybody is on board with these peace agreements, the tricky part is to implement them," he said. "To implement them is very costly and difficult."

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