Rebel Hostage Asks Uribe to “Open the Door”
to Releases
Bogota - A soldier captured almost 12 years
ago urged Colombian President Alvaro Uribe
to “open the door” for his release and that
of the other hostages being held by leftist
guerrillas.
“Mr. President Uribe. Open the door because
I want to be free,” Cpl. Pablo Emilio
Moncayo said in a proof-of-life video that
the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia,
or FARC, insurgents delivered to opposition
Sen. Piedad Cordoba, authorized by the
government to mediate the hostage
liberations.
“It’s not fair to continue denying us the
right to be free,” said Moncayo, who urged
the president not to “keep putting
obstacles” in the path of their release.
Moncayo was captured on Dec. 21, 1997, in a
rebel attack on the southern town of Cerro
Patascoy and is one of the two soldiers who
have spent the most time in captivity.
“We’ve dedicated a good part of our lives
with self-denial and sacrifice, and received
ingratitude and neglect in return,” the
hostage said in the video, alluding to what
he and many relatives of the hostages regard
as a lack of support from the government.
Uribe enjoys high approval ratings in his
homeland for taking the fight to the rebels,
who have used hostage-taking for political
leverage in their decades-old armed struggle
against a succession of governments.
The FARC, which has been debilitated in
recent years by Colombia’s U.S.-backed
military, also holds other hostages in hopes
of collecting a ransom from relatives.
Both Uribe and the FARC accuse the other
side of having no real interest in
negotiations and the president has instead
favored rescue operations to free the
hostages.
One such mission last year, in which
Colombian troops disguised as Red Cross
workers freed former presidential candidate
Ingrid Betancourt, three U.S. military
contractors and 11 others, was a resounding
success.
But several relatives of the hostages say
the risks are too great and point to the
deaths of 11 lawmakers during a clash
several years ago between the rebels and
Colombian army soldiers.
In the six-minute proof-of-life video
released Thursday, Moncayo briefly sends
greetings to his family, especially his
father, Gustavo, to whom he expresses his
deepest respect and admiration “for what he
has done for my release.”
The elder Moncayo, a teacher known as the
“peace walker,” in recent years has trekked
long distances on foot – while wearing
chains around his neck – to call attention
to the plight of his son and the other
hostages.
Cpl. Moncayo also thanked Venezuela
President Hugo Chavez and Ecuadorian head of
state Rafael Correa – leftist leaders who
have accused Uribe of not doing enough to
negotiate an end to Colombia’s long-running
armed conflict – for their efforts to seek
the release of the captives.
On Saturday, Uribe dropped his government’s
demand that all of the captives in the
FARC’s possession be freed at once,
potentially paving the way for the release
of Moncayo and one other soldier.
The president also said that, in addition to
Cordoba, representatives of the
International Committee of the Red Cross and
the Catholic Church also must be present for
the handover.
That decision was made after a meeting
between Uribe and relatives of the police
and soldiers in FARC hands.
The rebels announced months ago that they
were willing to unilaterally free Moncayo
and Pvt. Josue Daniel Calvo and deliver the
body of police Maj. Julian Ernesto Guevara,
who died while in captivity.
But the FARC also continue to insist on
swapping their remaining prisoners for some
500 jailed guerrillas, a few of whom have
been extradited to the United States.
The guerrillas in recent weeks have
delivered proof-of-life videos of 21 of the
23 police and military captives that they
intend to include in a so-called
“humanitarian exchange” of prisoners. In the
most recent footage, 10 captured security
force members – some held for more than a
decade – are seen with heavy chains around
their necks and visibly undernourished.
Cordoba, for her part, told reporters in the
northwestern city of Medellin on Thursday
that Moncayo and Calvo will be released
within a month.
“I expect we’ll be past this issue in a
month,” she said. The important thing now
“is to move ahead with the logistics” and to
“put an end to this (one-hostage-at-a-time
pattern) that is so exasperating for the
families.”
Cordoba has been instrumental in achieving
the unilateral release of several captives,
including Betancourt’s former campaign
manager and several lawmakers. EFE |
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