Colombian soldier freed by guerillas

Reunited and it felt so good:

Colombian Army Private Josue Daniel Calvo was freed yesterday after spending roughly eleven months held against his will be the FARC guerillas. Calvo hugged several family members shortly after stepping off a Brazilian army helicopter and appeared to be in satisfactory health after previous reports claimed that he was seriously injured in the April 2009 battle that led to his capture. Nevertheless Calvo is currently at a Bogota military clinic where he allegedly told doctors that the rebels carried him in hammock during his first seven months in the jungle.

Calvo was handed over in a publicly unknown part of southeastern Colombia by the FARC to a commission that included the International Red Cross and Senator Piedad Cordoba. Cordoba- who has served as a liaison in previous liberations- called on the guerillas and the government to make a more serious effort at seeking a peaceful solution:

The senator referred to a new call by the citizen movement Colombianos y Colombianas por la Paz (Colombians for Peace) for a humanitarian exchange between the government and the guerrillas, to secure the release of 21 hostages still held by the FARC.



"We are in the process of writing letters to President Uribe, all of the presidential candidates and the FARC," Córdoba said…

The rebel group also announced that it would deliver the remains of Julián Ernesto Guevara, a police officer who died in captivity in 2006, nearly eight years after he was captured by the FARC. 



The insurgents "told us they have his remains, but that they have not been able to bring them out of the jungle because of the continuous attacks by the army. They asked us to be on the alert," Córdoba added.

Tomorrow the FARC are expected to free Pablo Emilio Moncayo, who has spent 12 years in the jungle. Moncayo’s father, Gustavo, has campaigned relentlessly for his son’s liberation including going on nationwide treks with chains surrounding his body. Unfortunately, Moncayo will likely be the last hostage freed at least until current Colombian president Alvaro Uribe leaves office later this year.

Nearly two dozen police and soldiers have been identified by the FARC as part of a possible prisoner swap that has been downplayed by Uribe.

Online Sources- Xinhua, BBC News, Reuters, IPS, The Latin Americanist, YouTube, CNN

Colombian rebels release more hostage videos

Colombia’s FARC guerillas released videos of ten soldiers and police officers who have been held captive for over a decade.

The arresting footage (which you can view here) showed the hostages looking tired with shackles and chained around their necks. They delivered brief messages pertaining to their health, and called for their prompt liberation. One of the kidnapped policemen gave his thanks to his loved ones, the local media, and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for his earlier work in securing hostage releases.

Previous video was publicized via Sen., Piedad Cordoba who has served as the liaison between the guerillas and the government. The latest video, however, was uncovered when an accused FARC courier was nabbed by police over the weekend.

The news was met with relief by families of the kidnapping victims including some who participated in a small march in Bogota calling for a “humanitarian accord” to be reached. Over the weekend, one of the most vocal activists ended his latest personal trek for the hostages’ freedom:

The father of army Cpl. Pablo Emilio Moncayo, who has been held hostage by Colombia’s FARC guerrilla group for almost 12 years, arrived in Bogota after a foot journey of more than 100 kilometers (62 miles), during which he symbolically crucified himself on the cross of bamboo which he carried during his long march…

“Let the kidnapped people regain their freedom, (let) we Colombians be able to live in a different way and let there be no more anxiety of kidnapping,” (Gustavo) Moncayo said.

Image- Al Jazeera English
Online Sources- Reuters, BBC News, The Latin Americanist, LAHT, YouTube, AP

Still seeking freedom one year after “Operation Check”

Yesterday Colombian officials including President Alvaro Uribe and several former hostages commemorated the one-year anniversary of a rescue mission that freed fifteen people. Uribe claimed that “Operation Check” was made possible via the controversial military operation on FARC guerilla commander Raul Reyes’s camp in Ecuador which set off a regional diplomatic crisis. In addition he praised the operation which freed Ingrid Betancourt, three U.S. contractors, among others and said “I hope we have an ‘Operation Check’ numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6”.

Prognostications that the FARC would be decimated in part due to the rescue may’ve been premature. "Don't underestimate their military importance," said a study released by independent Colombian think-tank Foundation of Ideas for Peace which added that the guerillas are gaining strength in some regions. “With the exception of the July 2008 hostage rescue and a battlefield victory south of Bogotá in March 2008, the military hasn't dealt any further blows to the guerrillas' leadership” observed noted Colombia analyst Adam Isacson in this insightful Foreign Policy article.

For all the joy surrounding the fifteen people freed 366 days ago, hundreds of other hostages remain captive in the Colombian jungle. “For me it is very painful to think that our liberation may serve as a justification to forget them, or to have nothing happen, to turn the page,” said Betancourt days ago. The hard-line by the Uribe administration and the FARC has made it almost impossible for any hostages to be freed and returned to the open arms of their loved ones. Take the case of Colombian soldier Pablo Moncayo who has been held hostage since in 1997:

(The FARC) announced in mid-April it intended to free Moncayo. On Monday, it said it would release a second soldier with him.

But Uribe refused the FARC's demand that Sen. Piedad Cordoba, a close ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, be present for any hostage handover. She has attended five previous unilateral releases of a total of 12 hostages since early 2008…

Uribe says he will only accept the International Red Cross and the Roman Catholic Church as intermediaries.

"We don't understand why exactly President Uribe doesn't respect the life of Pablo Emilio," 22-year-old Yuri Tatiana Moncayo, one of the captive corporal's four sisters, told The Associated Press…

“The president isn't going to facilitate any unilateral liberation because he thinks that will boost the FARC's political agenda and hurt the government," said political analyst Claudia Lopez. "It's cruel, but that's the way it is."

Thus, hundreds of hostages continue to be deprived of liberty as they continue to be used as pawns in a sick game between intransigent sides.

Image- Cambio (Gustavo Moncayo- the father of hostage Emilio Moncayo has campaigned vigorously for the freeing of Colombian hostages including walking thousand of miles wearing symbolic steel chains).
Online Sources- AP, Foreign Policy, Monsters & Critics, The Latin Americanist, Semana, El Tiempo

Colombia: Soldier kidnapped since ’97 to be freed

Colombia’s FARC guerillas announced that they would free a soldier held captive since December 1997.

The communiqué to the “Colombians for Peace” group said that the rebels would “unilaterally free (Corporal Pablo Emilio Moncayo) and personally turn him over" to his father, Gustavo, and leftist Senator Piedad Cordoba. (Cordoba has brokered several hostage handovers in the past.)

The letter also claimed that the rebels would be willing to have talks with the government though both the FARC and President Alvaro Uribe disagree strongly on the conditions for negotiations.

The elder Moncayo- a schoolteacher- has been nicknamed as the “peace walker” due to his freedom marches throughout Colombia. As to be expected, he was enthused over the news of the planned liberation of his son:

"I give thanks to God for a moment so infinite, so big," Moncayo said. "There came a moment when the emotion is so big that it clouds my mind, it clouds my feelings. I won't be at peace until I hold my son in my arms".

Image- daylife.com (“In this television frame released by Venezuela's Interior Ministry in Caracas, Friday, March 7, 2008 , Colombian soldier Pablo Moncayo, who has been held for a decade as a hostage of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, is seen during a proof of life recorded message, that was sent to Venezuela's government.”)
Online Sources- Reuters, Colombia Reports, earthtimes.org, Semana, The Latin Americanist,

Colombian president jeered during public speech

Colombian president Alvaro Uribe was jeered during a speech yesterday where he defended his security policy. "I won't hand over one millimeter to the criminals" declared Uribe while part of a crowd booed and called him an “assassin” as well as a friend of right-wing paramilitary groups.

Uribe was mocked while speaking at Bogota’s main square to welcome Gustavo Moncayo- a 55-year-old teacher who spent seven weeks walking all over the Colombia in a campaign for the freeing of kidnap victims. (Moncayo’s son has been held hostage for ten years by leftist guerillas). Yet Moncayo engaged in a debate with Uribe after the president claimed that he would set aside a special zone for negotiations with guerillas:

“I don’t agree with those that claim our policy as violent” said the president. “Our policy of ‘democratic security’ is to free the country from guerillas and paramilitaries.”

“There will be kidnappings as long as there is poverty” said Moncayo to Uribe. “(The hostages) remain kidnapped and the victims are caught in the middle of a political game between the government and the FARC. This is very painful.”

Sources (English)- International Herald Tribune, BBC News, Monsters & Critics

Sources (Spanish)- El Tiempo, RCN

Image- BBC News (Gustavo Moncayo is comforted by a supporter after arriving in Bogota)