In This Article
30-Second Summary
Headline Link: '15 Hostages Held by Colombian Rebels Are Rescued'
Key Players: Betancourt, FARC, President Uribe
Related Topics: Betancourt’s 2007 letter to her mother
Video: ‘Hostage's Son Appeals For Release’
Background: Political tension in Colombia and Sarkozy’s hopeful attempt
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Colombia Frees 15 People in FARC Rescue Mission
July 02, 2008 7:46 PM
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Colombia has successfully freed 15 hostages long held by the rebel group FARC, including Ingrid Betancourt and three Americans.
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The operation is considered a great achievement for Colombia in its fight against the rebel group. The United States helped Colombia plan the mission, and the White House claimed that it provided "specific support."
The rescue operation is another Colombian government accomplishment against the group following the "killing and capture in recent months of several senior commanders of the FARC," according to The New York Times.
Ingrid Betancourt has received substantial attention since her capture in 2002, and there have been several unsuccessful international efforts to gain her release or provide her with medical attention. Betancourt was kidnapped during her bid for the Colombian presidency.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has refused to negotiate with the terrorists, who were demanding the release of 500 jailed FARC members in exchange for approximately 39 hostages.
Uribe lost his father at the hands of FARC assassins, and had said he would not acquiesce to the group’s demands.
The rescue operation is another Colombian government accomplishment against the group following the "killing and capture in recent months of several senior commanders of the FARC," according to The New York Times.
Ingrid Betancourt has received substantial attention since her capture in 2002, and there have been several unsuccessful international efforts to gain her release or provide her with medical attention. Betancourt was kidnapped during her bid for the Colombian presidency.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has refused to negotiate with the terrorists, who were demanding the release of 500 jailed FARC members in exchange for approximately 39 hostages.
Uribe lost his father at the hands of FARC assassins, and had said he would not acquiesce to the group’s demands.
Headline Link: '15 Hostages Held by Colombian Rebels Are Rescued'
Colombia successfully launched an operation into the jungles of south-central Colombia, freeing 15 hostages held by FARC. "This was a Colombian conceived and led operation; we supported the operation,” said Gordon Johndroe, the deputy White House press secretary. “This rescue was long in the planning, and we’ve been working with the Colombians for five years, since the hostages were taken, to free them from captivity.”
Source: The New York Times (free registration may be required)
Key Players: Betancourt, FARC, President Uribe
Ingrid Betancourt
Ingrid Betancourt, a French citizen, was kidnapped along with her aide while campaigning in the FARC-controlled area of southern Colombia on Feb. 23, 2002. She had been a critic of the rebel group. The Colombian authorities did not attempt to rescue Betancourt at the request of her family, who feared for her safety. Born in Colombia in 1961, Betancourt “grew up in Paris where her father was a diplomat,” according to the BBC. She earned her French citizenship when she married Fabrice Delloye, a French diplomat. They had two children. In 1989, she returned to Colombia and became a senator in 1998 under the Green Oxygen Party, which she had formed.
Source: The BBC
FARC
FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, was created in 1964 as the “military wing of the Colombian Communist Party.” GlobalSecurity.org writes that FARC has engaged in “bombings, murder, mortar attacks, kidnapping, extortion, hijacking, as well as guerrilla and conventional military action against Colombian political, military, and economic targets.”
Source: GlobalSecurity.org
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe
Twice-elected Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has been tough on the rebels and friendly with Washington, which has brought him re-election at home and continued financial support from the U.S. government. A right-winger and a victim of rebel violence himself—his father was assassinated by FARC 20 years ago—Uribe was elected to the Colombian presidency in 2002, having promised to crack down on the paramilitaries. He changed the constitution in 2004, which allowed him to run for and win a second term in 2006. Corruption scandals decreased his approval ratings at the beginning of his second term but he bounced back. He has also been criticized for excesses perpetrated by Colombian security forces.
Source: The BBC
Related Topics: Betancourt’s 2007 letter to her mother
The Washington Post provides excerpts from a letter from Betancourt to her mother, written on Oct. 24, 2007. She writes, “My appetite is blocked. My hair is falling out in large quantities. I have no desire to do anything.” Betancourt goes on to say, “My heart also belongs to France. … Since the beginning of this kidnapping, France has been the voice of wisdom and love. It has never given up, it has not accepted the passage of time as the only solution, it has never wavered in defense of our right to be defended.”
Source: The Washington Post
Video: ‘Hostage's Son Appeals For Release’
A video clip from Reuters shows Ingrid Betancourt’s son pleading for his mother’s release and the televised speech from French President Sarkozy. The clip also shows images from 2007 of Betancourt as a hostage in the jungle.
Source: Reuters
Background: Political tension in Colombia and Sarkozy’s hopeful attempt
Sarkozy urges FARC to make history
The French government did not offer details about the aircraft that left France on April 3 and landed in Bogota with at least one doctor. The help arrived shortly after Betancourt’s son, Lorenzo Delloye Betancourt, said that his mother’s condition was becoming dire. He said last Wednesday that she suffers from hepatitis B and needs a blood transfusion. “Either you release mother and the other ill hostages or you will bury her in the coming hours. This will be my last appeal. We have reached the end." Sarkozy gave a speech the day before, imploring the guerrillas to release Betancourt, who is a French citizen: “You, who lead the FARC, you have a rendezvous with history. Don't miss it.”
Source: findingDulcinea
No response to Sarkozy’s outreach
It remained “unclear whether the rebels had responded,” according to the International Herald Tribune. Sarkozy told FARC, “She no longer has the strength to resist an interminable captivity that is turning into tragedy." Thirty-nine hostages are thought to be in FARC’s custody, including three Americans. The International Herald Tribune reports that the group has demanded the release of “hundreds of its members from Colombian prisons.”
Source: International Herald Tribune
‘South American Tensions High After Colombian Raid in March’
Tensions flared in South America in early March when Colombia crossed the border into neighboring Ecuador to rout out FARC guerillas. Ecuador and Venezuela temporarily cut ties with Colombia and beefed up border security for infringing on Ecuador’s sovereignty, while Colombia accused Venezuela and Ecuador of supporting the rebels. The United States defended its close ally, Colombia, during the crisis.
Source: findingDulcinea
'FARC Frees Four Hostages’
On Feb. 27, 2008, FARC released four hostages in a deal brokered by Hugo Chavez. All of the hostages were former members of the Colombian Congress.
Source: findingDulcinea
‘Colombian Rebels Stay on Terror List Despite Chavez’
In mid-January 2008, the United States refused Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s request to remove FARC from its list of terrorist organizations. Chavez appealed to the United States to give the group the status of “belligerents” instead, which would provide the fighters with protection under international law, according to findingDulcinea.
Source: findingDulcinea
© 2008 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
