COLOMBIA:
Jail the Messenger
By Constanza Vieira
BOGOTA, (IPS) -
The treatment given to
messengers has sparked
wars or has been seen as
a sign of political will
and mutual trust and
confidence.
The arrest and
imprisonment of two
young women carrying
evidence showing that at
least 17 of the 45
hostages held by the
Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC)
guerrillas are still
alive could place an
insurmountable roadblock
in the path forged by
Venezuelan President
Hugo Chávez, in his
efforts to broker an
agreement for an
exchange of hostages for
imprisoned rebels.
After the messengers
were arrested, FARC
commander Manuel "Marulanda
himself said no more
proof of life would be
provided," Carlos
Lozano, director of the
Communist Party weekly
publication Voz, told
IPS. Lozano is closely
familiar with the talks
on a possible swap of 45
hostages for 400 or 500
jailed insurgents.
But IPS found out that
the French government,
which has played a very
active role in pushing
for a hostage-prisoner
exchange and is in
direct contact with the
FARC, is expecting to
receive evidence showing
that the rest of the
hostages are also alive.
The two women, who were
arrested Nov. 29 in the
Colombian capital, were
threatened with
extradition to the
United States by three
agents of the U.S.
Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI), who
visited the prison to
talk to them Tuesday,
one of the women’s
lawyers told IPS
exclusively.
Cindy Tumay, 21, and
Adriana Vega, 29, were
forced by the director
of the El Buen Pastor
women’s prison in
Bogotá, Jenny Morantes,
to meet three
foreigners, who
identified themselves as
FBI agents, in her
office after hours.
There was no legal basis
for the meeting.
Only one of the three
men spoke Spanish to the
women, while he spoke
English with his
companions, Vega’s
lawyer, Geminiano Méndez,
told IPS.
The agents told the two
women that they were
interested in the
release of the three
U.S. citizens, Keith
Stansell, Thomas Howes
and Marc Gonsalves, who
were captured by the
leftist FARC in February
2003 while working as
military contractors for
the Washington-financed
counterinsurgency Plan
Colombia.
They first said they
wanted to ask the two
women "a few questions"
about how they were
captured, to which Vega
responded that she would
not answer any questions
unless her lawyer was
present.
"After that, the decent
treatment ended," said
the attorney, whose law
practice had employed
Vega in the past as a
secretary.
The agents told Vega and
Tumay not to forget that
two FARC members -- "Simón
Trinidad" and "Sonia" --
had already been
extradited to the United
States, and that "with
the approval" of
Colombian President
Álvaro Uribe, they could
both find themselves in
a U.S. prison "in eight
months."
According to Méndez, the
FBI agent added that the
women might as well
start saying good-bye to
their friends, while
remarking that "the
prisons there are very
cold, as ‘Sonia’ will
tell you soon enough."
Sonia is serving a
16-year sentence in a
prison in the state of
Texas on drug
trafficking charges.
The FBI agents said Vega
and Tumay were in a very
complicated position,
and told them that if
they decided to talk,
they should let the U.S.
Embassy know through
their attorneys or the
prison directors.
The talk lasted no more
than 20 minutes, and
took place in the
presence of the director
of the prison, said the
lawyer, who announced
that he would ask
Morantes, through the
right to petition, "who
authorised the visit"
and "based on what legal
provision" was it held.
The day after their
arrest, the two women
were submitted to a
judicial hearing that
was held in secret for
"national security
reasons," as the
authorities reported.
A man who was arrested
along with the two women
apparently was serving
as a guide in Bogotá for
Tumay, who carried the
package containing solid
evidence that 17
hostages are alive from
the southern department
(province) of Guaviare.
The two women, who are
in preventive detention
and have declared
themselves innocent of
the charges of
kidnapping and
"rebellion", are being
investigated by the
Attorney-General’s
Office.
Vega said humanitarian
concerns led her to take
part in the chain set up
to deliver the videos
and letters to
Venezuelan President
Chávez, who had been
officially accepted by
Uribe as a mediator of a
hostage-prisoner swap.
Lozano said the incident
involving FBI agents is
a "serious and flagrant
violation of our
national sovereignty,
which shows the
fragility of our
territory and our
dignity. I believe that
these gentlemen are
doing whatever they
please in Colombia
because the national
government allows them
to do so."
In the journalist’s
view, "they did the same
thing with guerrilla
fighter 'Simón
Trinidad'. He agreed to
talk to them under the
condition that no notes
would be taken and that
the off-the-record
conversation would not
be taped. But many of
the things that were
discussed ended up being
used in the trial
against him."
"Simón Trinidad", whose
real name is Ricardo
Palmera, was arrested in
Quito, Ecuador in
January 2004 while
representing the FARC in
negotiations on a
hostage-prisoner swap.
He was later extradited
to the United States.
President Chávez agreed
to take part in the
talks at the request of
the hostages’ families,
which was officially
relayed by Colombian
opposition Senator
Piedad Córdoba after
Uribe appointed her as
"facilitator" of an
agreement on Aug. 15.
But Uribe unexpectedly
put an end to Córdoba
and Chávez’s efforts on
Nov. 21, without prior
warning to the
Venezuelan leader, even
though the two
presidents had agreed
that they would talk
before any such decision
was made.
In response, Chávez
angrily "froze"
relations between the
two countries and
recalled Venezuela’s
ambassador to Caracas
for consultations.
On Dec. 1, Chávez
confirmed in a press
conference that at least
one of the two women who
were arrested formed
part of the humanitarian
mission to deliver the
videos and letters
proving that the
hostages were still
alive.
"The ‘proof of life’ was
on its way to Caracas
and I was going to send
it to (French President)
Sarkozy and make it
public as part of what I
had required of the FARC,
in the name of the
families and the
governments of Colombia
and France," said Chávez.
"But they intercepted
it; they captured the
messengers," he added.
For that reason, Chávez
showed up empty-handed
at his Nov. 20 meeting
with Sarkozy in France.
The evidence that the
hostages are alive was
also demanded by an
influential group of
Democratic lawmakers in
the U.S.
The confiscation of the
videos and letters
showing proof of life
was not reported to the
hostages’ families, who
learned about them from
the media.
At Chávez’s urging, FARC
chief Marulanda had
ordered the gathering of
such evidence. The
documents seized along
with Vega and Tumay had
been collected on Oct.
23-25.
The images of the
hostages and the letters
to their families have
moved the entire world,
said Sarkozy Thursday in
a televised message to
Marulanda, who he called
on to release, before
Christmas,
French-Colombian citizen
Ingrid Betancourt, the
highest-profile hostage
held by the FARC.
The former Colombian
presidential candidate,
who has been held
captive in the jungle
for nearly six years, is
seen in one of the
videos, looking gaunt
and gazing listlessly
down at the ground.
This week, Uribe offered
lighter charges and cash
rewards to the hostages’
guards, if they would
turn over the captives
and abandon the armed
struggle. He presented a
common kidnapping case,
involving a
four-year-old child, as
the new policy’s first
success story.
Uribe also announced
Friday that he would
accept the FARC’s demand
to create a
demilitarised zone for
hostage talks, under the
condition that it be 150
square km in size, that
it be located in a rural
area, and that it
contain no military or
police posts that would
have to be withdrawn,
and preferably no
civilian population, or
very few inhabitants at
the most.
The talks would take
place in the presence of
international observers,
and the negotiators
would not be armed, he
added.
But shortly after the
president’s
announcement, Defence
Minister Juan Manuel
Santos said the area
would only be cleared of
government security
forces for 30 days.
While analysts are now
saying that the ball is
in the FARC’s court, the
fate of the two
messengers would appear
to be a detail that
should not simply be
forgotten.
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