Colombian spies tricked leftist rebels FARC into handing over kidnapped presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three U.S. military contractors Wednesday in a daring helicopter rescue so successful that not a single shot was fired. Appearing healthy after being held hostage for six years in the jungle, Betancourt walked down from a Colombian military jet in Bogota on Wednesday and hugged her mother and husband, a broad smile on her face. Along with Betancourt, three American contractors and 11 other hostages who were Colombian police were rescued in Wednesday's operation.
Betancourt, 46, was abducted in February 2002. The Americans were captured a year later when their drug surveillance plane went down in rebel-held jungle. Some of the others had been held for a dozen years. Here was how the rescue actually took place. Betancourt said she awoke Wednesday at 4:30 a.m. and said the rosary, then was told by her guards that she and the other hostages were to be transferred to another location, where their detention was to continue. Soon, two white helicopters approached and several men approached the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia commanders who were overseeing their transfer, she said. At this point of time, she thought that the men from the helicopters was from FARC, but when they got in the air, the military revealed who they really were in the helicopter. They told the hostages, we are military, you are free! Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said the Colombian military infiltrated the FARC leadership and arranged for the hostages to be taken to the south of the country, where they were to be picked up by helicopters that the rebels believed were controlled by another group. They were initially transported to a military air base southwest of Bogota, from which they were to travel later Wednesday to the capital, a military spokesman said.
Now if you are wondering what FARC is all about, well they are actually a revolutionary group in Colombia which are blamed for hundreds of kidnappings, including police, politicians, and U.S. civilians. They have fought a longstanding and complicated conflict with Colombia's government and right-wing paramilitary groups, defends the taking of captives as a legitimate act of war and is believed to still hold roughly 750 prisoners in the nation's remote jungles. It was established in the 1960s as the military wing of the Colombian Communist Party. It later became involved with the cocaine trade during the 1980’s for the purposes of fundraising. The group though is not as strong as it was in the past, some of its leaders have died over the time due to assassinations by the government or natural deaths but there are still a significant number of them in the jungle and are still very dangerous. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, U.S. President George W. Bush and both U.S. presidential candidates congratulated Uribe, who said the time has come for peace negotiations with the rebel movement which was echoed by Colombian President Uribe himself . [End of report]
I am really pleased and relieved when I first heard this news in the morning. Nobody saw it coming, not even the family members of the hostages. It was all planned out and was executed very well. The fact that there was no shot being fired shows how well the rescue mission actually went. It was a dangerous mission but the Colombian army did extremely well. It was a flawless operation by the Colombian military and President Uribe has proved that refusing to negotiate with terrorists does pay dividends in the end. I am very happy that all the hostages that were rescued today is safe despite not being in the best of shape, but that shouldn't be the priority when you are rescuing them. I think that the Colombian military has show the world that they are more than capable to do great things on their own and not depend on countries like the United States. The U.S. was actually informed about the mission before it took place, but the State Department today said that they had no part in the mission however. It also show that in someway, FARC is not as strong of a group as they once was.
The operation today is a proof of a weakend FARC organization. Over the years, they have suffered huge blow and I don't think there is a bigger blow than today's event. In fact, many Colombians believe the FARC is nearing the end of its four-decade fight. Recent events have force them to cut their rebel numbers in half to about 9,000 and in addition with military support from the U.S. to the Colombian government, it will only get much more difficult for the group to continue with their whatever plans they have. If you remember back in March, their historic leader Manuel Marulanda died of a reported heart attack, and two other top commanders were killed as well. Their income from ransom kidnappings and the cocaine trade have been depleted by intense military operations and I believe it is only a matter of time before the group is completely wipe out. President Uribe has said today that the government is only interested to make peace with FARC, so I think the ball is in the hands of the group. It would be the best decision for them to surrender and make peace with the government because if they don't, there will be more bloodshed on the part of FARC.
As we celebrate the rescue of the hostages today, we should remember that FARC still have about 700 others held in captivity. I just hope that all of them are still safe and that the FARC members won't do anything foolish as a result of today's event. I also hope that all of them will be able to be rescued soon. The Colombian government might have pulled off this brilliant rescue mission once, but I doubt they will be able to do it another time. Only time will tell.
*The report was taken from CNN & Associated Press.
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