Hostages Freed in Colombia
Colombia has been in an internal war for more than 50 years. The guerrillas that were born with the purpose of liberation and the respecting of the rights of the people, the ones that had real goals, they’re all gone now. The only ones left are the ones made up with people with only greed in their eyes, that succumb to dirty business such as drug traffic and kidnapping for personal wealth.
Some of these kidnapped people have been in this state for over ten years. Until recently, Ingrid Betancourt, three Americans, several people involved in politics and such were under the evil hand of the guerrillas. They have been living far away from their families under inhuman conditions, with few personal hygiene items, who knows what kind of food, walking all day amongst cruel and cold people in the middle of the forest, exposed to fights in which they could get killed. They’re only link to the outside world is whatever this men choose to give them, and whatever information they can gather from the small time with the radio.
And then on July 2 of 2008, something amazing happened. The chains were unlocked as a squad of the special Colombian officers under cover drove the kidnapped away from the rest of the guerrillas and into a zone in which they could be given safety. They lied to their superiors and to the whole Colombia’s surprise, pulled it off to perfection.
The kidnapped are now with their families, safe and sound. Ingrid Betancourt is on a plane to France to meet her sons she hasn’t seen over these long years. This is a gain for the Colombian government, the president, and the people. Hopefully there might be another successful operation and the rest of the kidnapped will be into freedom soon enough.
The hostages freed are the following:
Ingrid Betancourt
Thomas Howes
Keith Stansell
Mark Gonzálvez
Juan Carlos Bermeo
Raymundo Malagón
José Ricardo Marulanda
William Pérez
Erasmo Romero
José Miguel Arteaga
Armando Flores
Julio Buitrago
Armando Castellanos
Raingel Rodríguez
Jhon Jairo Durán
