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Colombia rescues 15 hostages, including Ingrid Betancourt

Wed, 07/02/2008 - 6:51pm
El Espectador/Getty Images

Colombia announced today that it has rescued 15 hostages held by the country's notorious FARC guerillas, including former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt. The rescued group also includes three American military contractors who were seized when their plane went down in FARC territory during an antinarcotics mission.

Fans of Betancourt worldwide are thrilled. A dual citizen of Colombia and France, she became a venerated figure during her six-year captivity, her frail figure and willfull words focusing the world's attention on a hostage crisis in a remote part of the Andes. Yet the celebration is bittersweet. As Betancourt and 14 others go free, largely because of their status as "bargaining chips" used by the FARC to gain political concessions, hundreds of others reportedly remain behind in the guerrilla group's hands.

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John McCain

by RonMwangaguhunga on Thu, 07/03/2008 - 12:21pm
... on the same day Senator John McCain decided to visit. We won't entertain the possibility that this has anything to do with the republican party's friendliness to Columbia on free trade.

re: Colombia rescues 15 hostages

by jgodoycoy on Thu, 07/03/2008 - 1:31pm
The military operation that freed the hostages was impeccable and an important achievement for Colombian democratic institutions. There are many challenges ahead to achieve peace , free the other hostages and demobilize all irregular forces in Colombia. More importantly, the challenge ahead is to incorporate all remote areas in the local and world market economy. On a separate note, it is ridiculous to even thought that this successful operation was timed to coincide with McCain's visit to Colombia. These 15 people have been kept in captivity against their will for up to 11 years. Their freedom is more valuable than party politics. Jorge http://www.revistaperspectiva.com/blog/

It was certainly impressive

by voiceofmoderation on Thu, 07/03/2008 - 2:04pm
It was certainly impressive intelligence work by the Colombians and their corageous operatives who undertook it. There are even more benefits for Colombia here: the infiltration should have the FARC commanders looking over their backs at every turn and the fact they the Colombians got these people back without any fight or concessions must be an embarassment to Hugo Chavez, who failed to gain Betancourt's release through negotiations. It certainly erases the embarassment the Colombians felt a few months ago as they were cowed by Ecuador and Venezuela.