Cuba, Nicaragua
Sign Trade Agreement
Colombian Army Rescues
15 FARC Hostages
Colombian President
Urges FARC To Free
Remaining Hostages
Betancourt Says Hostage
Rescue Operation
"Perfect"
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U.S. Instigating Anti-Cuba Activities
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Colombian Army Rescues
15 FARC Hostages
The Colombian government
said Wednesday that its
army has rescued 15
hostages, including
former presidency
candidate Ingrid
Betancourt held by the
Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Colombian Defense
Minister Juan Manuel
Santos told reporters
that the hostages, also
including three U.S.
military advisers and11
Colombian soldiers, were
rescued Wednesday in an
"unprecedented"
operation in the
southern Colombian
province of Guaviare.
The helicopter-backed
military operation,
named "Jaque," was
conceived more than one
year ago with
intelligence agents
infiltrating into the
heart of the FARC,
Santos said.
The intelligence agents
had managed to convince
the rebel commander in
charge of the hostages
to believe they were
going to take the
hostages to Alfonso
Cano, the guerrillas'
supreme leader.
And the hostages,
divided into three
groups, were taken to a
rendezvous before being
flown away by two
disguised helicopters
piloted by Colombian
military agents, said
Santos. The hostages did
not realize they were
freed until the
disguised militants told
them they were "National
Army."
The operation, without
exchanging fire and
causing any casualties,
"will go into history
for its audacity and
effectiveness," Santos
said.
Betancourt, who was
captured in February
2002 during a
presidential campaign,
said her rescue by the
Colombian army "is a
peace signal for
Colombia."
"This is a miracle," the
beaming Betancourt said
Wednesday after arriving
at a military airport in
Bogota.
"Thank you Colombia.
Thank you France," she
said. The 46-year-old
Betancourt also has a
French nationality and
the French government
has been campaigning
hard to release her.
There had been mounting
fears for Betancourt's
health following the
release of a video
showing the once vibrant
woman looking thin and
frail after being held
by the FARC in the
jungle of southern
Colombia.
Colombian Foreign
Minister Fernando Araujo,
who managed to escape in
2006 after being held
captive for six years by
the FARC, was thrilled
by the release of the 15
hostages.
"This is an act that
brings back hope for all
Colombians, and it
reaffirms to the
international community
the seriousness and the
right path of the
security policy
presented by President
Alvaro Uribe," he said.
The release was also a
major boost for Sarkozy,
who had pledged to free
Betancourt when he was
elected president in May
2007. The French
president had sent a
medical mission to
Colombia earlier this
year to help her.
"We are proud of her
courage...it is an
immense joy for all of
France," Sarkozy said
Wednesday.
EU Commissioner for
External Relations
Benita Ferrero-Waldner
said she was "extremely
relieved and very happy"
about the hostage
release, but expressed
concerns for the rest of
some 700 hostages still
held by the FARC.
The three Americans,
held since 2003 after
their drug surveillance
plane went down in
rebel-held jungle, have
been flown directly to
the Untied States on a
special plane, the
authorities said.
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French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt hugs
General Mario Montoya after her arrival at Catam
military airport in Bogota July 2, 2008. |
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