Update (1:00pm): Sen. Piedad Cordoba announced that the rescue of ex-Governor Alan Jara which was originally scheduled for today will be done on Tuesday. (Link via El Tiempo).Update (12:30pm): Red Cross spokesman Yves Heller said that the planned rescues for today and Wednesday will be delayed indefinitely. (Link via RCN).
Update (10:30am): President Alvaro Uribe reinstated Sen. Piedad Cordoba to continue assisting rescue operations. However, he refused to extend the favor to Colombians for Peace (Link via El Tiempo).
Yesterday should’ve been a joyous day to celebrate the freeing of four Colombian hostages from their rebel captors. Instead, accusations and finger-pointing have come about in the hours after the liberation.
Three police officials and a soldier were handed over in a deal led by the Red Cross and with the use of Brazilian military helicopters. Jorge Enrique Botero- a journalist with rescue group Colombians for Peace- said that military flights took place during the handover and nearly caused the operation to be aborted. That claim was initially denied by a government spokesman though it was later partially acknowledged by President Alvaro Uribe.
At around midnight, Uribe spoke at a press conference with the freed hostages. The former captives spoke of their mistreatment in the jungle including being chained and lassoed to trees, having their radios removed and being forced to follow scripts during taped video messages for their families.
Uribe then spoke and accused the FARC of a bombing last night in Cali that killed three people. As a result of that (and seemingly in reaction to the brouhaha over the military flights during the rescue mission), Uribe removed the peace group from participating in the planned liberation of two more hostages today and Wednesday.
What does this all mean? For starters, the freeing of the two other hostages may be delayed or suspended altogether as it gives the FARC an ideal (albeit unfair and pitiful) alibi for them to halt unilateral liberations. The accusations flying in all directions shows that petty political differences take more precedence than humanitarian efforts. Uribe permitted Brazil and the Red Cross to continue within the planned liberations though his decision to exclude Colombians for Peace may hamper further rescue attempts. (The FARC had previously said that they would only work with the group and its leader- opposition senator Piedad Cordoba). The bickering between numerous actors could further difficult any pacific end to the conflict between guerillas and the government.
Hundreds of Colombians remain held against their will by the guerillas. They deserve to be freed as soon as possible and returned to their loved ones. Sadly, that reality appears to be deferred due to the intransigence of some.
Image- AP ("Former hostage, police officer Alexis Torres, gives a thumb up in Villavicencio, Colombia, after he was released by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2009.")
Online Sources- Bloomberg, El Espectador, El Tiempo, Voice of America, Al Jazeera English
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