Colombia's cabinet resigns ahead of shuffle

Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos addresses a United Nations General Assembly special session on the world drug problem at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., April 21, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Fifteen members of Colombia's cabinet presented their resignations to President Juan Manuel Santos on Friday, paving the way for tax reform and changes ahead of a likely peace accord with Marxist FARC rebels later this year, the president's press office said.

The joint resignations, a routine protocol before a cabinet shuffle, comes as the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) enter the final phase of talks that began in late 2012 and are aimed at ending five decades of war.