Hostages in Colombia

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February 2008
- Thousands Protest Colombia Rebels
  
  BBC | Feb 5, 08 3:19 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - In a mammoth Facebook-inspired protest, as many as 2 million demonstrators flooded the streets of Bogota yesterday, and thousands more marched in other parts of Colombia and nearly 100 cities worldwide as people called for an end to Colombia's guerrilla group FARC. "No more kidnapping, no more lies, no more deaths, no more FARC," read protest banners. More »
- Colombia's FARC to Free 3 More Hostages
  
  BBC | Feb 3, 08 1:00 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Colombia’s FARC rebel group will release three lawmakers for health reasons after more than 6 years in captivity, the BBC reports. Taking a pointed side in the dispute between Hugo Chavez and Colombian president Alvaro Uribe, the rebels said in a statement to local media that they were releasing the hostages in response to Chavez’s mediation efforts. More »
January 2008
- Letters Bare Misery of Colombian Captives
  
  Associated Press | Jan 17, 08 9:53 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Eight captives left behind with Colombian rebels describe a miserable existence chained by the neck and suffering excruciating diseases in letters carried out last week by two freed hostages. One weakened captive, a police officer, describes "dragging myself " through the jungle "with only my arms because I couldn't stand up." A man he has been chained to could "die any moment" because parasites have infected his brain, he writes. More »
- Colombian Hostage Reunited With Son
  
  BBC | Jan 14, 08 4:50 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - A Colombian woman held captive for nearly six years by rebels was reunited yesterday with the son she had as a hostage. Clara Rojas' baby, Emmanuel, fathered by one of the rebels, was taken from her when he was just eight months old, suffering from a broken arm and a parasitic disease. Now 3, he has been living in a foster home for the last two years. More »
- Colombian Hostages Joyfully Return to Families
  
  CNN | Jan 10, 08 9:25 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Two freed hostages are back with their families tonight after years of captivity in the Colombian jungle, CNN reports. "We are being reborn!" said Clara Rojas as she was reunited with her elderly mother in Venezuela. "This is like living again," said her fellow former hostage, Consuelo Gonzalez. "Sometimes I think it's a dream." More »
- 2 Colombian Hostages Freed
  
  CNN | Jan 10, 08 11:21 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Colombian rebels have released two women hostages, Hugo Chavez said in a press conference today, as Red Cross helicopters were flying the freed Colombians to Caracas. The women, both held in the jungle for years, are Consuelo Gonzalez, a politician, and Clara Rojas, an aide to former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt. Betancourt remains one of 700 captives still held by FARC, a group of the Marxist insurgents. More »
- Director Rips Bush in Colombia Hostage Drama
  
  Guardian (UK) | Jan 7, 08 3:40 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Maverick Hollywood director Oliver Stone had a front-row seat on the scene of the failed hostage rescue mission in Colombia last month—and has returned blaming that nation's government and President Bush. "Shame on Bush,” Stone told the Guardian . Colombian rebels reneged on a deal to free two female politicians and a child, saying stepped up military operations in the area made release too dangerous. More »
- Rebels Admit They Don't Have Hostage Boy
  
  BBC | Jan 5, 08 6:45 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Rebels in Colombia have acknowledged that the 3-year-old boy in foster care in Bogota is Emmanuel, the son of one of the hostages they are holding and the focus of a much-publicized release that fell through last week. Farc rebels had announced the release of Emmanuel, his mother Clara Rojas, and another Colombian politician to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. More »
- DNA Tests Show Rebels Don't Have Colombian Boy
  
  Bloomberg | Jan 4, 08 4:36 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - DNA tests all but confirmed today that a 3-year-old boy Colombian rebels had pledged to include in a hostage-release deal has actually been in foster care since 2005. The group FARC negotiated the release of Emmanuel Rojas—born to a female hostage and her rebel captor—with Hugo Chavez; the test results appear to cement Colombian claims that FARC duped the Venezuelan president. More »
- Chavez Starts Year With Softer Tone
  
  Reuters | Jan 2, 08 9:15 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has rung in 2008 by shifting focus from instituting his broad vision for a revolutionary socialist state to more concrete problems such as battling crime, cleaning up litter-filled streets, and curbing staggering inflation, Reuters reports. Chavez's change in direction comes after voters failed in December to sign on to his plan to overhaul the country's constitution and after his botched attempt to free hostages in Colombia. More »
- Colombia Prez: Rebels Don't Have Hostage's Love Child
  
  AFP | Jan 2, 08 10:29 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Relatives of FARC hostage Clara Rojas yesterday underwent DNA testing to determine whether a boy surrendered to a Bogota orphanage 2 years ago is her 3-year-old son, as Colombian president Alvaro Uribe contends. Uribe yesterday said FARC rebels couldn't release Emmanuel Rojas, along with his mother and another hostage, as they had promised to do, because he’s not their captive at all, the AFP reports. More »
December 2007
- Mission Begins to Rescue Hostages in Colombia
  
  BBC | Dec 29, 07 9:52 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Helicopters sent by Venezuela's Hugo Chavez to rescue hostages from Colombian rebels have landed at the edge of a Colombian wilderness and are awaiting a go-ahead from the rebels, the BBC reports. Guerrillas plan to release two women, seized more than five years ago, and a young boy fathered in captivity. International observers shadowing the operation include filmmaker Oliver Stone. More »
- Venezuela To Pick Up Hostages in Colombia
  
  Reuters | Dec 26, 07 5:48 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Three hostages held for more than five years by Marxist guerrillas will soon go free after Colombia agreed today to a handover plan engineered by Hugo Chavez, Reuters reports. Venezuelan planes and helicopters will pick up Clara Rojas, a former vice presidential candidate kidnapped in 2002; the young son she had in captivity; and a former lawmaker. More »
November 2007
- Yank Hostages Still Alive Years After Kidnap in Colombia
  
  Associated Press | Nov 30, 07 4:39 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - American hostages and a French-Colombian politician are apparently still alive in South America years after they were kidnapped by Marxist rebels, according to dramatic tapes just released by the Colombian government. Three American security contractors whose plane went down in 2003 are seen looking haggard against a jungle backdrop. Politician Ingrid Betancourt appears gaunt and apparently in chains. More »
- Chavez Freezes Out Colombia
  
  BBC | Nov 26, 07 4:56 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Venezuela's volatile President Hugo Chavez says he is freezing ties with neighboring Colombia, insulted by Bogota's decision to ditch Chavez as a negotiator with Marxist guerrillas who have been holding hostages for years. Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe accused Chavez of favoring the rebels and overstepping his authority. Chavez called the move "a spit in the face" and labeled Uribe a liar, the BBC reports. More »
- Chavez Fired as Hostage Mediator
  
  Reuters | Nov 22, 07 7:32 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Colombia ended Hugo Chavez's try at freeing 45 hostages from Marxist rebels today, Reuters reports. The Venezuelan prez had been brokering their release for weeks when he apparently breached protocol by talking to a Colombian general. "Can you imagine (Russia's president) calling the chairman of the U.S. chiefs of staff and asking about things?" said one analyst. "That is jumping chains of command." More »