Colombian President Alvaro Uribe made it official in a dramatic announcement to the world this afternoon: 15 hostages were freed by military spies from The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in Operation Jaque.
Ingrid Betancourt and three U.S. military contractors were among the hostages freed after military spies tricked rebels into giving them up without a single shot fired.
“The rescue is the most serious blow ever dealt to the 44-year-old Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, who considered Betancourt and the three Americans their most valuable bargaining chips.” (The Associated Press, July 2, 2008).
Employees and media at San Jose Childrens’ University Hospital, where President Uribe was inaugurating the hospital, gave him a standing ovation before he made an official announcement on the freed hostages.
“The mood in Bogota is one of unbridled joy,” Bogotá Free Planet publisher Ernesto Pardo told Canada Free Press in a telephone interview. “Joy was the main response to first news reports of this momentous event because included in the 15 freed hostages were 11 Colombian soldiers and police.”
As we spoke, the helicopter carrying the hostages arrived at the Tolemaida Military Base, about 100 kilometers west of the capital.
Colombia’s defense minister Juan Manuel Santos explained how military intelligence agents infiltrated the guerrilla ranks and led the local commander in charge of the hostages--alias Cesar--to believe they were going to take them by helicopter to Alfonso Cano, the guerrillas’ supreme leader.
Surrounded by military commandos, Cesar and the other guerrillas gave up without a fight as the helicopters took the hostages to a military base in Guaviare.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the family of Ingrid Betancourt would be flown to Bogotá from Paris today.
In Paris, the French-Colombian politician’s son Lorenzo Delloye-Betancourt called her release after six years of captivity, “if true, the most beautiful news of my life.”
There was no word of any media reaching the American families of the three U.S. hostages: Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell as this story was being written.
The Americans were captured in 2003 when their drug surveillance plane went down. Since their abduction, their families have received only two “proof of life” videos, the latest in November.
President Uribe, whose father was killed by the FARC, made his father’s death the inspiration for the defeat of FARC the cornerstone of his presidency.
Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman were briefed about the upcoming daring operation in Colombia yesterday, which political analysts say is a testimony to the trust Colombians have for Senator McCain.
Names of the hostages freed today:
1. Ingrid Betancourt
2. Keith Stansell
3. Marc Gonsalves
4. Thomas Howes
5. Subintendente Armando Castellanos (Police)
6. Cape first William Perez
7. Cape first Jose Ricardo Marulanda, Army
8. Cape first Armando Florez
9. Cape first July Buitrago (Police)
10. Official John Jairo Duran (Police)
11. Staff Sergeant Erasmo Romena, Army
12. Lt. Barney Rodriguez
13. Cape first Jose Miguel Arteaga, Army
14. Lieutenant Juan Carlos Berne, Military
15. Subintendente Raimundo Malagon
While Colombians are relieved for the loved ones of the hostages freed today, they are praying for the safety of the hostages still held by FARC.
Judi McLeod——
Bio and Archives
-- Judi McLeod, Founder, Owner and Editor of Canada Free Press, is an award-winning journalist with more than 30 years’ experience in the print and online media. A former Toronto Sun columnist, she also worked for the Kingston Whig Standard. Her work has appeared throughout the ‘Net, including on Rush Limbaugh and Fox News.
