Betancourt Rescued, an Important moment for Colombia
Ingrid Betancourt was kidnapped by the FARC 6 years ago on her way to visit her dying father in the Jungle in Colombia. She also happened to be campaigning for the presidency. She has been the highest profile captive of the FARC for a myriad of reasons, for being a woman, for being a presidential candidate, and also for having her cause taken up by new French president Nicolas Sarkozy who has adamantly campaigned for her rescue since his election to office last year. She is a dual French-Colombian citizen.
Betancourt was rescued with other hostages amongst which were 3 Americans who were taken by the FARC 5 years ago after their plane crashed on a informational recognizance mission. They were the longest currently-held American hostages until their release yesterday.
The rescue mission was in effect an undercover operation by the Colombian military to infiltrate the FARC. After years of careful preparation, they landed a helicopter in a FARC camp decked out in Che Guevarra t-shirts to pass themselves off as another rebel group supposedly aiding in the transfer of the captives. The hostages themselves were unaware that they were being rescued at the time and were combative at first, figuring that they were being moved to another camp. It seems like some shit out of a bad action movie. Hear Ingrid tell it herself at the press conference she gave shortly after arriving in Bogota.
It might be hard for non-Colombians to imagine the importance of Ingrid Betancourt's rescue. And I figure thats mostly because its hard for non-colombians to imagine a situation where rebel groups and drug cartels are just as powerful if not more powerful than the government. It gives the people there a self-deprecating national image and a pessimistic outlook on a resolution to the long-standing problems. To sum it up, Colombia is at a pivotal point where it seems for once that the government and the military are capable of combatting the rebels. The fact that the rescue was made without firing a single shot gives the people there new hope that maybe there will be a peaceful solution to the armed conflict once and for all.
Betancourt was rescued with other hostages amongst which were 3 Americans who were taken by the FARC 5 years ago after their plane crashed on a informational recognizance mission. They were the longest currently-held American hostages until their release yesterday.
The rescue mission was in effect an undercover operation by the Colombian military to infiltrate the FARC. After years of careful preparation, they landed a helicopter in a FARC camp decked out in Che Guevarra t-shirts to pass themselves off as another rebel group supposedly aiding in the transfer of the captives. The hostages themselves were unaware that they were being rescued at the time and were combative at first, figuring that they were being moved to another camp. It seems like some shit out of a bad action movie. Hear Ingrid tell it herself at the press conference she gave shortly after arriving in Bogota.
It might be hard for non-Colombians to imagine the importance of Ingrid Betancourt's rescue. And I figure thats mostly because its hard for non-colombians to imagine a situation where rebel groups and drug cartels are just as powerful if not more powerful than the government. It gives the people there a self-deprecating national image and a pessimistic outlook on a resolution to the long-standing problems. To sum it up, Colombia is at a pivotal point where it seems for once that the government and the military are capable of combatting the rebels. The fact that the rescue was made without firing a single shot gives the people there new hope that maybe there will be a peaceful solution to the armed conflict once and for all.
Labels: Betancourt, Colombia, English, FARC, Rescue, Sarkozy, Uribe
posted by Russ Finkelstein at
9:06 AM
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