alertnet.org— Colombia said on Wednesday it rescued three Americans and French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt from leftist guerrillas who had held them for years in secret jungle camps.
Jul 2, 2008View in Crawl 4
Minister of defense says "Hacemos un llamado a los actuales cabecillas de las Farc para que no se hagan matar, liberen a los (otros) secuestrados y no sacrifiquen a sus hombres" Loose translation "We call current leaders of FARC to release all of the hostages to not get themselves nor their men killed" (eltiempo.com)This removes one more bargaining chip of FARC, as their leadership dissolves and their numbers dwindle. This also gives a boost to the upcoming referendum to legitimize Uribe's 2006 election and allow him to remain in power until the end of his term. With McCain's visit not long ago, I am not quite sure of the effect, if at all, this will have on Colombia's pending Free Trade Agreement.
I am very glad she was rescued by the Colombian army. Hopefully, all the other captives can have the same luck.Peace for Colombia, and DOWN with the FARC!!!
I don't see how this didn't make the front page yesterday, this was an awesome rescue by the army! "The hostages, who had been divided in three groups, were taken to a rendezvous with two disguised MI-17 helicopters piloted by Colombian military agents — one on the ground, the other hovering above. The choppers were painted white, without insignias.Betancourt said her hands and feet were bound, which she called "humiliating."At first she thought the pilots — a crew of four with nine "assistants" dressed in white — were from a relief organization. Then she saw their Che Guevara shirts and assumed they were rebels.Only when they were airborne did she notice that Cesar, who had treated her so cruelly for so many years, was naked and blindfolded on the floor."The chief of the operation said, `We're the national army. You're free,'" she said. "The helicopter almost fell from the sky because we were jumping up and down, yelling, crying, hugging one another. We couldn't believe it." "
andreshbJul 2, 2008
Minister of defense says "Hacemos un llamado a los actuales cabecillas de las Farc para que no se hagan matar, liberen a los (otros) secuestrados y no sacrifiquen a sus hombres" Loose translation "We call current leaders of FARC to release all of the hostages to not get themselves nor their men killed" (eltiempo.com)This removes one more bargaining chip of FARC, as their leadership dissolves and their numbers dwindle. This also gives a boost to the upcoming referendum to legitimize Uribe's 2006 election and allow him to remain in power until the end of his term. With McCain's visit not long ago, I am not quite sure of the effect, if at all, this will have on Colombia's pending Free Trade Agreement.
santabananaJul 2, 2008
I am very glad she was rescued by the Colombian army. Hopefully, all the other captives can have the same luck.Peace for Colombia, and DOWN with the FARC!!!
mimioJul 2, 2008
It is true. Colombian TV is showing images of Ingrid free
dnabeastJul 3, 2008
Bah. The site's down already. The same story is available at <a class="user" href="http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23961533-38199,00.html">http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23961533-3819 ...</a>
usernamedJul 3, 2008
I don't see how this didn't make the front page yesterday, this was an awesome rescue by the army! "The hostages, who had been divided in three groups, were taken to a rendezvous with two disguised MI-17 helicopters piloted by Colombian military agents — one on the ground, the other hovering above. The choppers were painted white, without insignias.Betancourt said her hands and feet were bound, which she called "humiliating."At first she thought the pilots — a crew of four with nine "assistants" dressed in white — were from a relief organization. Then she saw their Che Guevara shirts and assumed they were rebels.Only when they were airborne did she notice that Cesar, who had treated her so cruelly for so many years, was naked and blindfolded on the floor."The chief of the operation said, `We're the national army. You're free,'" she said. "The helicopter almost fell from the sky because we were jumping up and down, yelling, crying, hugging one another. We couldn't believe it." "