Hostages in Colombia

The Colombian army seized nearly a ton of explosives near Bogota, foiling a bomb plot by the rebel group known as FARC, according to authorities. Military officials suspect a series of bomb attacks were planned across the capital in the next few days in retaliation for the recent high-profile rescue of 15 hostages, including Ingrid Betancourt, Reuters reports. More »

Video recorded during the rescue of 15 rebel hostages shows them filing grim-faced toward the helicopter that would fly them to safety, then hugging one another and crying with joy after they are aloft and realize they are free, the AP reports. Watch the video on the MSNBC link below or go to http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/25533238#25533238. More »

Speaking after her arrival in Paris today, Ingrid Betancourt says she was tortured during her 6 years as a hostage of Colombian rebels, the New York Times reports. “I was in chains all the time, 24 hours a day, for three years,” she said, describing "diabolical behavior" by her captors. “I tried to wear those chains with dignity, even if I felt that it was unbearable.” More »

Ingrid Betancourt returned to France today after 6 years in captivity in Colombia, CNN reports. "I have been dreaming for 7 years for this moment," the French-Colombian politician said at Villacoublay airport outside Paris. "I owe everything to France. You all shared my despair, my family's despair. I am carrying all of you in my heart." More »

The Colombian military's daring rescue of FARC guerilla hostages relied on increasing disarray within the rebel ranks, the New York Times reports. Latin America's longest-running insurgency has suffered a near-total communications breakdown in recent months. With the command structure in chaos and rebels depending on "medieval" communications methods, the time was right for the army to pounce. More »

The three American hostages rescued after more than five years in captivity in Colombia are in good physical and psychological shape, the Washington Post reports. The defense contractors, who arrived at a military base in Texas last night, were held by Colombian rebels in “very cruel and very spartan” conditions but are doing well and “in great spirits,” military officials said. More »

The children of Ingrid Betancourt embraced their mother for the first time in 6 years today in a tear-drenched airport welcome, a day after the former presidential candidate was freed from rebel captivity by Colombia's government. "Nirvana, paradise—that must be very similar to what I feel at this moment," Betancourt told reporters as she fought back tears, her son bending over to kiss her and her daughter clinging tightly to her arm.   More »

Three American hostages are back on US soil today for the first time in five years, CNN reports, after a late-night landing at an Air Force base in San Antonio, Texas. The men were taken to an Army medical center, where, after undergoing tests and debriefings, they are expected to be reunited with their families. More »

For Ingrid Betancourt, the French-Colombian politician freed after more than 6 years in captivity, her release yesterday was a “miracle.” Colombian soldiers, posing as NGO officials, tricked FARC rebels and rescued Betancourt and 14 other hostages without gunfire. “There is no historical precedent for such a perfect operation,” said Betancourt, whose liberation deals a major blow to FARC, the BBC says. More »

The families of three military contractors captured by Colombian rebels more than five years ago had no inkling they were about to be freed, McClatchy Newspapers reports. "It's a miracle today," said Amanda Howes, niece of Thomas Howes. Her uncle and his fellow former captives, Marc Gonsalves and Keith Stansell, were expected to arrive at a military base tonight in Texas. More »

Ingrid Betancourt embraced her family today after six years of captivity in the Colombian jungle, the Washington Post reports. "Mom, you don't have to cry anymore," said Betancourt, one of 15 hostages freed from FARC rebels. "This is a miracle." Betancourt appeared thin but healthy at a Bogota military base and wore an ever-present smile. Meanwhile, three US contractors kidnapped in 2003 were on way their back to the US tonight. More »

A simple ruse led to the freedom of the high-profile hostages held for years by Colombia's FARC rebels, Reuters reports. Government soldiers duped guerrillas into believing they were humanitarian aid workers and offered to fly the hostages from their jungle hideaway to meet with FARC boss Alfonso Cano. Instead, they flew Ingrid Betancourt, three US military contractors and 11 others to freedom. More »

Colombia's military has freed 15 hostages—including former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three US contractors—from Maoist rebel group FARC, the AP reports. Colombia's defense minister announced the rescue today, saying that army commandos captured rebels manning a security ring around the hostages and got them to persuade their comrades to turn over the captives, without any loss of life. The minister says the other 11 hostages freed were Colombian soldiers and police. More »

Though Alfonso Cano, the new commander of Colombia’s FARC rebels, is a bookish intellectual, don’t expect a new push towards government negotiations, sources tell the Washington Post. Cano, who turned to Marx in college after a middle-class upbringing, would be uniquely suited to push peaceful political action—but in its weakened state, the FARC needs its leader to show strength. More »

The daughter of a beauty queen and a diplomat who once enjoyed a charmed existence in fashionable Parisian quarters, Ingrid Betancourt is now a hostage in a Colombian jungle who is sometimes chained by the neck to a tree. The Wall Street Journal profiles the plight of the former Colombian presidential candidate, who was kidnapped in 2002 by rebels. More »

FARC chief Manuel Marulanda’s death might not be a fatal blow to Colombia's Marxist rebels, but the Economist sees an organization on the way out anyway. In its mid-'90s heyday, FARC boasted a force of 19,000 soldiers that threatened Bogota, the capital; today, the group is fragmented, with perhaps 9,000 troops, thanks to the strong-arm policies of president Alvaro Uribe. More »

A top Colombian rebel confirmed the death of FARC chief Manuel Marulanda in a TV interview today. Marulanda died of a heart attack 2 months ago, at age 78, "in the arms of his companion," he said. With "Sureshot" gone, new rebel leader Alfonso Cano may struggle to keep the Marxist group going, the AP reports. More »

Columbian rebel leader Manuel Marulanda Velez is dead, according to an interview with an official in a weekly magazine, AFP reports. The elusive FARC leader, known as “Sure Shot,” helped start the Marxist rebel group in the 1960s to battle Colombia's conservative government. He was rumored to have terminal cancer earlier this year. More »

A cache of computer files found on a dead Colombian guerrilla leader's laptops implicates Hugo Chávez in arms deals with the FARC rebels. The Wall Street Journal reports that Colombian and American intelligence agencies, which came into possession of about 100 files, have no doubt of their authenticity. Both FARC and the Venezuelan president claim that they are counterfeit. More »

A French humanitarian team is leaving Colombia after being frustrated in its mission to aid failing hostage Ingrid Betancourt, reports the BBC. The leadership of the FARC rebels, who have held the French-Colombian presidential candidate hostage for six years, refused to allow the team to provide Betancourt with emergency medical aid. French President Nicolas Sarkozy had sent the aid workers after reports that Betancourt was seriously ill. More »