Colombian Hostage Emergency

COLOMBIA: US Military Aid Contingent on Reversal of Rights Record

As a new administration takes over in Bogotá, some groups are hoping for change in the human rights record of Colombia - and that the U.S. will use its clout in the country to ensure that change occurs.

COLOMBIA: FARC Calls for Prisoner Swap After Releasing Moncayo

Hopes that a humanitarian prisoner-for-hostage swap may be negotiated in Colombia before August added to the emotion over the release of Sergeant Pablo Emilio Moncayo by the FARC guerrillas Tuesday and his reunion with his family after more than 12 years in captivity in the jungle.

COLOMBIA: Rebels Release Wounded Soldier

After Colombia’s FARC rebels released 23-year-old soldier Josué Daniel Calvo, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said he is not opposed to a humanitarian swap of imprisoned insurgents for hostages, as long as the guerrillas do not return to the fighting.

COLOMBIA: “Proof-of-Life” Videos Feed Hostages’ Families’ Hopes

"You look as good as ever," was the radio message that Olga Valderrama sent over the airwaves to her son, army corporal Antonio Sanmiguel, who is being held captive somewhere in the jungles of Colombia by the FARC guerrillas.

COLOMBIA: Ex-Hostage Says FARC Killed 11 Captives

"Why did they kill them? Out of physical cowardice. It's what we call murder. Sheer physical cowardice. It's what we call a war crime," said former lawmaker Sigifredo López, just freed by the FARC, about the massacre of his 11 colleagues on Jun. 18, 2007, when they were hostages of the Colombian guerrillas.

Alan Jara hugs his son at Tuesday's press conference.  Credit: Constantino Castelblanco/Gobernación del Meta

COLOMBIA: Freed Hostage Calls for Peace Negotiations

"At one point I thought we weren't going to find him," said Colombian Senator Piedad Córdoba about Alan Jara, the latest hostage to be freed as a goodwill gesture by insurgents after more than seven-and-a-half years as their captive in the jungle.

COLOMBIA: One More Day’s Delay for Civilian Hostages

Alan Jara, the former governor of the central province of Meta, was released by Colombian guerrillas on Tuesday, instead of Monday as originally scheduled. Former regional lawmaker for the western province of Valle del Cauca, Sigifredo López, was scheduled to have been freed on Wednesday, but his handover has now been postponed until Thursday.

COLOMBIA: Hostage Release Plan at a Standstill

"Operation Mistrust" could be the name of the efforts surrounding the planned unilateral release of six hostages by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which has run aground a month after it was announced.

COLOMBIA: Conditions in Place for New Hostage Release

Nearly three weeks after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) announced that they would release six hostages, the government of right-wing President Álvaro Uribe has agreed to provide security guarantees for the operation, which is expected to take place this month.

Piedad Córdoba Credit: Mario Osava/IPS

Q&A: “We Need a Popular Movement, to Win the Elections”

Wherever there are minorities or marginalised groups in Colombia, or the rights of women are violated, you will find Senator Piedad Córdoba.

René Guarín and other relatives of victims cover with flowers the last stretch of street that their loved ones walked across alive. Credit: Adriana Cuéllar/IPS

Q&A: The Truth Is Slowly Coming Out

At 11:40 AM on Nov. 6, 1985 there were more than 300 people in the Palace of Justice, which lines one side of Bolívar square in the Colombian capital, when 35 guerrillas belonging to the 19 de Abril Movement (M-19) seized the building.

Demonstrators camped out at University del Valle. Credit: Judith Henríquez Acuña/IPS

COLOMBIA: Where Dialogue Seems Impossible

Dialogue - or, more accurately, the lack thereof - was the common denominator in two high-profile events Sunday in the western Colombian city of Cali, demonstrating to what extent this vehicle of mutual understanding is missing in this civil war-torn South American country.

Red Cross symbol as seen in video.  Credit: Video broadcast by RCN.

COLOMBIA: Video Raises Numerous Questions About Rescue Mission

"It is a serious matter that members of the armed forces clandestinely leaked news without coordination with their superiors," says a presidential communiqué issued in Colombia after a local TV station broadcast a video on the operation in which Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages held by the FARC guerrillas were rescued last month.

The emblem of the International Committee of the Red Cross, as represented by its Spanish acronym. Credit:

COLOMBIA: Hostage Rescue, According to Captured Guerrilla Leader

"Occupation: Guerrilla. Address: Colombian mountains. Distinguishing marks: Combat scars." That is how Gerardo Aguilar, alias "César" and Alexander Farfán, "Enrique Gafas," answered questions on forms for their extradition to the United States.

Rebel commander "César" (left) captured along with a colleague by the Colombian army. Credit: Colombian Ministry of Defence

COLOMBIA: Did the Army ‘Steal’ FARC’s Hostage Release?

A source close to the insurgent Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) told IPS that the Jul. 2 rescue of Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages by the Colombian military "intercepted their liberation, planned for this weekend (Jul. 5-6) or the next," by the FARC rebels.

COLOMBIA: Questions Surround Foreign Role in Hostage Rescue

Among the many questions raised by Operation Check, which ended with the Jul. 2 release of Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) hostages Ingrid Betancourt, three U.S. contractors and 11 members of the Colombian army and police, is the role played by the United States, France and Switzerland.

Gen. Mario Montoya Uribe and freed hostage Ingrid Betancourt. Credit: Presidency of Colombia

COLOMBIA: The General Ingrid Hugged

General Mario Montoya Uribe, the national commander of the Colombian army, whom Ingrid Betancourt thanked on Wednesday for rescuing her from captivity, has a controversial service record.

COLOMBIA: Hostage-Prisoner Swap a Mirage

"It is painful to die without seeing my son free," said 62-year-old Pedro Manuel Pérez eight days before he died of leukaemia. His funeral in the northern Colombian city of Riohacha put an end to his 10-year wait for the release of his hostage son by the FARC guerrillas.

COLOMBIA: French Negotiators Were to Meet Reyes the Day He Was Killed

Three personal envoys of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who were in Ecuador since October 2007, were phoned Saturday Mar. 1 by Colombian Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo, who warned them not to go to a meeting with guerrilla leader Raúl Reyes because they would be in danger.

Raúl Reyes, killed Saturday in Ecuador Credit: Latinamericanstudies.org

COLOMBIA: Hostage Talks “Still Alive,” Despite Diplomatic Crisis

European envoys met over the weekend with members of the FARC rebel group’s central leadership to discuss how to move ahead in the efforts to negotiate a humanitarian exchange aimed at securing the release of Ingrid Betancourt and the rest of the hostages held in the jungle by the guerrillas.

 Credit: Telesur

COLOMBIA: A New Life for Freed Hostages and Their Families

Wednesday marked the start of a new chapter in the life of Ángela Rodríguez. Her husband, Luis Eladio Pérez, who was taken hostage in June 2001 by Colombia’s FARC guerrillas, returned home after being held captive in the jungle for nearly seven years.

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