Yesterday, July 3, 15 hostages including the most famous, Ingrid Betancourt, were ‘rescued’ from the FARC. The hostages were transported to a planned location in south eastern Colombia, handed over to the Colombian armed forces, and flown out by helicopter in an operation without bloodshed. According to the Colombian government, the maneuver was carried out by infiltrators within the guerrilla group without the knowledge of top FARC leaders or the hostages.

Ingrid Betancourt, who was kidnapped more than 6 years ago and had become the most famous FARC hostage, thanked the Colombian military for the “impeccable operation,” and said the media’s persistent efforts had helped the hostages “keep their hope alive.” She supported Uribe running again in presidential elections, despite the fraud that occurred in the last elections. In 2002 Betancourt ran (in abstencia) for president for the Green Party.

There is something really staged about the whole thing. One, Betancourt in her release, is all styled up- her hair plaited around her head. She does not look unhealthy and badly treated like the media has always claimed. Her mother, in the photos, does not look surprised to see her. If she was in isolation for so many years, how can she possibly even have an opinion about any news, how can she be sure of the role of Uribe and Chavez etc in the hostage negotiations? Isn’t it a little bit suspicious that she suddenly supports Uribe with such conviction?

And whilst everyone, from Chavez, to Uribe, to Colombians, Venezuelans, and relatives of the hostages, are delighted that the hostages have been released, it is important to think about what impact this will have on peace in Colombia. As the Argentinian Nobel Peace Prize winner, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel said, “We would like an America that is united… however with conflicts such as those in Colombia, whose internal war has lasted about 50 years…[the rescue of the FARC captives] is barely a step [in that direction]”.
He suggested that to resolve the situation in Colombia it is necessary to not have US intervention in the area, and to have dialogue and unity between south America. “I don’t think it will be resolved by another coup by the FARC, but rather by fair negotiation for the Colombian people.”
Or, as Juan Carlos Tanus, president of the Association of Colombians in Venezuela, said, “The [democratic] security of Colombians can not only be based on the rescue [of the hostages], it has to have a social and political component.”

The last question is, although we can not support the kidnapping tactics of the FARC, how can Colombians successfully struggle against the Colombian military and government which has committed grave human rights abuses and has so far killed 8000 people over the last 8 years, for their political or union related activity?