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Colombia Walking Tall

By Larry Johnson on July 3, 2008 at 12:47 AM in Current Affairs

Colombia struck a dramatic blow against terrorists on Wednesday in pulling off a dramatic rescue of 15 hostages held by the FARC (Revolutinary Armed Forces of Colombia), an aging communist insurgency that is behaving more like a Japanese soldier lost in the jungle who did not get the word that World War II was over. Three Americans, which included former U.S. soldiers who served in Special Operations units, were among the freed captives. These men had been held for over five years.

Here’s the Washington Post account:

Colombia’s military yesterday rescued the most prominent of several hundred hostages held by Marxist rebels, a group of 15 that included the French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and three American Defense Department contractors who had been imprisoned in remote jungle camps since 2003.

In what Colombian officials called an elaborate ruse, commandos deceived a rebel unit entrusted with the prized hostages into turning them over in a grassy field deep in southeastern Guaviare province. The prisoners, who included 11 Colombian soldiers, were then flown to freedom in what amounted to a powerful blow to a fast-waning insurgency.

By late afternoon, the hostages were transported to the main military air base in Bogota, the Colombian capital, where they were reunited with relatives as a military band played the national anthem.

Read the rest here.

I would not be surprised to learn in coming days that the CIA played a role in helping the Colombians pull this off, but at the end of the day the Colombians and their President, Alvaro Uribe, deserve the credit and the bragging rights. Uribe has been a strong, decisive leader who has gone after the extremes on both the right and the left. This is not good news. This is great news. I am happy for the families who are celebrating the safe return of their loved ones tonight.

  • HARP

    We could have traded Obama, Dean and Brazille nut for them easily.

    • Roger De Bris

      You forgot Pelosi.

    • jwrjr

      Obama, Dean, Brazile, and Pelosi … do you have a grudge against Colombia that you would do something like that to them?

    • tzada

      Has anyone followed up on possible connections between Obama and FARC? Or what if any links were found on those captured laptops. The ones who mentioned a presidential candidate who favored them?

  • let them eat change

    So fortuitous that McCain just happened to be happening upon Columbia on that same day.

    • Bling

      Well, why rescue them. Why make it fortuitous for McCain. Let their family suffers

    • beebop

      I wish you people followed news. He was GONE when it occurred. He received the news when he was in the air. Do you think (there’s the root question) he would want to be upstaged by such fabulous world wide news? Geez. Get a grip. I guess that means that you sure don’t want the war in Iraq to end if BoBo the clown happens to be in Baghdad, do you?

      • Jim S

        McCain was briefed the evening before he left by Uribe and staff. After he left, and was in the air heading to Mexico, Uribe contacted him and informed him of the success of the mission. I think it speaks volumes that Uribe didn’t call Obama and appraise him of the situation. Maybe he called and Obama refused to talk to him. Maybe Uribe didn’t call because he thought Obama would call the NY Times and leak the information. I don’t know and don’t care. Main thing is the 15 got out alive.

    • Lucinda

      It’s Colombia. Columbia is the capital of South Carolina. If you’re going to comment on something, then at least be informed enough to know how to spell it.

  • Roger De Bris

    Maybe now the House can get around to ratifying the Columbian Free Trade Agreement instead of burying it from reaching the floor for debate. Pelosi has acted despicably on this important treaty. Columbian good already enter into the US duty free. This treaty will remove duties on US exports to Columbia making US products more competitive.

    If Congress is serious about showing support for Latin America and maintaining healthy, democratic and productive economies, then they will get off their collective asses and ratify this treaty, instead of letting Pelosi’s partisanship do damage to the democratic and economic gains Columbia has made in the past few years. Are the Congressional democrats so enamored of the declining economy and increasing socialization of Venezuela that they would let their hatred of Bush derail a promising bright spot for the US in the southern hemisphere?

    • memyself&i

      Obama opposes trade with Colombia but wants trade with Cuba

      youtube.com/watch?v=cZ3SVok9g34&eurl=http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/04/obama-trade-with-cuba-good-trade-with.html

    • Gary McGowan

      Free trade is wrong for so many reasons (though agreements or treaties between sovereign nation states certainly need not be).

      Uribe was cornered into signing in early 2006 the agreement opposed by the majority of his fellow citizens. Imminent expiration of a preferential tariff arrangement was the factor U.S. negotiators used to force Free Trade Pact signing by Uribe.

      It put 2,500,000 rural jobs at risk, threatening thereby a surge in narcotics production and membership in the ranks of the FARC narcoterrorists. It probably also pushed the nation into participating in the biofuel fraud, which Uribe supports with absurd political rhetoric.

      But I’m not up on the current situation and don’t have time to check right now.

      • Billy Beane

        Free trade is right for so many reasons. Free trade makes the most efficient use of capital, labor and markets. The United States itself is founded on free trade as the Constitution prohibits levies on goods transported between the sovereign states forming the federal union. Trade barriers cause market distortions, economic contraction and loss of jobs.

        Witness what happened after passage of the Smoot Hawley Act imposing punitive tariffs on imports under the theory that it would create more domestic jobs to get the US out of a recession. Our trading partners also raised their tariffs effectively blocking exports of US goods. Recession deepened, capital markets dried up and unemployment shot to 25% of the workforce, and something we now cause the Great Depression ensued.

        The EU, China and US respectively have annual exports of $1.30, $1.22 and $1.14 TRILLION of as of 2007. Free trade works.

        • Steven Mather

          Notwithstanding the benefits of trade when appropriate labour and environmental protections are enforced, the model is based on the naive presupposition of perpetual peace.

          Trade builds dependencies and denudes self-sufficiency. It sows the seeds of future conflict. For example, 2600 years ago, K’ung Fu-tse (Confucius) responding to a question about how to create a great state, said the “Higher Men… would avoid foreign relations as much as possible, and seek to make the state so independent of foreign supplies that it would never be tempted to war for them (Durant, 1935).”

          Pre-historically and historically the norm is conflict, some of which is scarcity driven. Given the reality of increasing global population and decreasing resources, the inevitability of conflicts is inescapable. Countries that lack an industrial base will fall to those like China, which have designed their industries to be dual purpose so that they can readily be used for war production.

        • Gary McGowan

          90% of agricultural production worldwide is now controlled by five mega-cartels. Very efficient.

          World hunger and poverty are increasing. Very efficient.

          “In the event that I am reincarnated, I would like to return as a deadly virus, in order to contribute something to solve overpopulation.” Very efficient.

          British free trade policy caused the genocide of 2 million of the 8 million Irish subjects in four years during the curiously mis-named “potato famine.” Very efficient. (They had plenty of food–it was all exported under armed guard in the name of “free trade,” otherwise known as profit for the market speculators. Very efficient.

          The United States was created as the first revolution against the establishment of the British Empire (the empire of the British East India Company) established in 1763 by the Treaty of Paris cooked up to insure the Anglo-Dutch Liberal system of imperialism could prevail. The founders of our Constitution weren’t into working for them on a plantation here on the other side of the Atlantic. Protectionist measures (against the British Empire) allowed us to develop our own industry and economy instead of having everything ripped off by them–like Africa is being ripped off.

          2005, David Rockefeller, “It would have been quite impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subjected to the lights of publicity during those years. But, the world is more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. The supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national autodetermination practiced in past centuries.”
          Very efficient.

          Nazi work camps / death camps were “very efficient” too.

          The kindest thing one can say about “globalization” is that it’s not working. And more and more citizens and leaders of under-developed nations are voicing that fact.

          axiomatic presumptions which, in fact, can be found only in a non-existent, “ivory tower” universe.

  • SensibleWomanNOTforBO

    but at the end of the day the Colombians and their President, Alvaro Uribe, deserve the credit and the bragging rights.

    You bet your sweet britches they do! ;-)

    Watching the videos of the families sharing their joy and happiness upon hearing the news of the hostages release was SO uplifting and gave me chills. Having lost my own Dad forever in a fiery trucking accident years ago, I KNOW the children of the hostages are floating on cloud nine now that they have their parents back. I can’t help but just keep smiling for them.

    I can just imagine the sheer joy the hostages felt on that helicopter when they realized they were free. Especially as we move into one of our nation’s most revered holidays. Independence Day…has a WONDERFUL ring to it, doesn’t it?

    Of course, the men deserve commendation for their strong will and stamina, but as a woman I am so SO proud of Ingrid Betancourt. To have endured all she endured for so long…WHAT an inspiration she is for women everywhere!

    This news made my day. :-)

  • http://www.http://unityindiversity-spiritedpolitics.blogspot.com jm

    Glad you brought this vital timely subject to attention. Following the underlying threads of terrorist leader meetings recently:

    Richardson went to meet with Chavez on his some turf last month. Only found one Carib news clip that this even happened. Could ask – what the hell is the Gov of New Mexico doing – going to meet with a terrorist anti-American – and what gives him the right to do so?! bozo sent him, obviously.

    Not long after Chavez went to Cuba to meet with Castro. A FOX banner on this, not much more attention.

    Then, this week Chavez tirading to Central and South American leaders how the US is really their enemy and they need to gang up against us.

    In the midst of all this, Cuba making an OIL DRILLING deal with China, not far off the coast of FLA – where we ourselves won’t drill though we could – and our Congress has ducked the issue of off-shore drilling by taking off for their summer vacations – in the midst of rising gas prices taking the economy down.

    Also, as pointed out above, dumb Dems blocked trade agreement with Columbia – which sure makes us look like xxxx to the leaders Chavez is aiming to organize as a Latin America block against us.

    Among other things, what DOES THIS SAY about Richardson’s messenger service meeting with Chavez- for obama? What did Richardson say to Chavez that got carried to Castro in Cuba? How did this fit in with Cuba working with China on oil drill right after these meetings? And Chavez organizing the whole south of the border against us?

    How can I, just one citizen, be aware of all this and its impact on us – and our Congress have no more on their minds then evading issues and going on vacation?????????????

    ANY left out there who still want to support down-ticket Dems- unless they are among the few strong of heart hanging out for Hillary – ought to be really thinking about all this.

    Rant done. Thanks again for the good news on Columbia. May it put some pressure on Congress should they ever get around to getting back in session – and there being any world left to salvage when they bother to do so.

    • missE

      Related Chavez news.

      General opposed to Chavez “socialism or death slogan”
      released (CNN)

      Vivas Perdomo has asked Venezuela’s Supreme Court to toss out the salute, “Fatherland, socialism or death! We will triumph!”

      Hours before his detention, he suggested replacing the slogan with a declaration by 19th-century independence hero Francisco de Miranda: “Death to tyranny. Long live freedom!”

      http://tinyurl.com/4doxvq

      and Columbia detains Venezuelan soldier

      http://tinyurl.com/442qzc

  • Jesus Reyes

    Cute by half. Uribe could have released Betancourt months ago. He stopped two releases already in progress. Unfortunately for Betancourt, it was Chavez making the deal possible

  • Jesus Reyes

    She is a leftist and was running for president when she was kidnapped. The Drug Lord Uribe and his paramilitary routinely put bullets in the heads of people like Betancourt. If she runs in the next presidential election she had better get some serious security

    • missE

      She sure didn’t look scared of Uribe and the Columbian military when she was standing with them and thanking them for her rescue and the rebel’s humiliating (her description) treatment of the hostages.

  • sisterdo

    SUSAN UN PC …

    Her idea has finally made it to Bitterpolitcz.

    Awhile ago Susan said we are strong, we can flyer and put cards with information to let the world know stopping Obarky is imperative.

    Help put out flyers to let those who are skeptical about Obama know that the media is not telling the truth.

    170 websites are all included on the Just Say No Deal website…….please print these out today and put them in your libraries, hair salons, food courts, malls, your bus stops, Asian food markets…..let the Hillary world know not trusting Obarky means they should come online.

    Just Say No Deal, please print and spread.
    http://camille424.wordpress.com/more-materials/

  • http://tinyurl.com/6od4hk doctorate

    Stunning, disturbing, gestapo-type developments detailed over at Larry Sinclair’s site.

    http://larrysinclair0926.wordpress.com/

    • Joe Smith

      Yea, they are doing this because they know it is true. Although I don’t see how he won’t be able to get a continuance in the morning until he gets a lawyer. They can’t really precede if he is not represented by counsel.

    • BegoneObama

      Why do you say that? Larry Sinclair is a habitual criminal and those poor suckers that are giving him money are being conned like so many others have been by him over the years.
      That guy is just way too crazy and so are those that post over there saying , “Way to go Larry”, etc.
      I hate Obama but Larry Sinclair is a criminal.
      How can you people support him?
      Go to the Mitch and Nan show http://themitchandnanshow.wordpress.com/ and today they have an indepth article that spells out in great detail all of the crap Sinclair has done and all of the prison sentences he has had. Posters on that show can find plenty of other good blogs and sites that are against Obama and they should do it.
      Larry and his so called “Moma” are hardened criminals.

  • Mr.Murder

    Thought this had a lot of Chavez in it as well. He’s been an intermediary for FARC before.

    Though these guys are the brutal extremists McCain alluded to, they kept these people alive for five years?

    A lot of stuff doesn’t add up on this, but the fact remains that it is very good news.

    These guys just routinely board copters in the jungle? Yet they are antigovernment rebels? They took a left winger for a hostage as a leftist group?

    Antigov types who use helicopters(sounds like they work closely with the government to some degree) and they take potential political rivals on the left hostage?

    How very Red Brigade of them.

    The most plausible explanmation was that she is reported to have Hepatitis B and had she died a captive the political ramifications would have been far worse for FARC.

    Previous persons have been released or “escaped” (bribed their way out) and that is where their movement seems to have deteriorated. It’s running short of the items needed to sustain a movement. Thus it splinters into forms of corruption that mirror the drug trafficing and arms shipment deals that are their staple across regional and international borders.

    Possible burnback, the disclosure that she was rescued on an NGO false flag. Now such groups may be targeted to the extent it hedges additional negotiations and progress, it could set those back years to come.

  • prince dude

    yeah just was on huffington post what a bunch of jerks, arrianna tells barack to watch kerry gore and hillary speeches, , first of all gore and kerry and obama are the ones that look like elistis, whether arianna likes it or not, hillary looks like the one who cares about working class,i hope these left wing sites start getting buyers remorse , and start putting pressure on superdelegates to change their allegiance to hillary,cannot wait for whitey tape!!yeah they kicked me off politico. for my viral email against obama.the picture of michelleobama with mrs farakan, and then the video wear obama says white folks, its such a great combination to post those 2 together, well i willhave to change name again son i can go back on pooitico-as a liberal, i do not understand how this guy can win even i have trouble wilth his patriotism, i do not care so much about liberral their are more people more liberal than obama, but they do not carry the unpatroitic baggage that he does with ayer, phleggger, and jeremiah wright!!now had harold ford of ran for president the poartiotic african american from tennesse, and he would have beaten hillary i would not of had aproblem with it, and obama did not even beat hillary!! hell harold ford almost won tennessee, and he would have come withing 5 points of beating hillary in states like w virginia, andkentucky or he might have even beaten her,its the fact that obama is aracist and hates amerrica that people in appalcia have a problem with obama- hell istill think hillary will be nominee hopefully and she can a picka patrioitc arican americna like harold ford jurnior

    • Mr.Murder

      Harold Ford Jr. had prosecution of family members do his run for Senate in. Not unlike the attorney firings that happened at other times in nearby states.
      There’s a reason Sen.Corker doesn’t say a whole lot these days. Granted, most of the Fords were already tabloid pulp for scandalmongers. It should not have weighed upon the candidate to the extent it did.

      His family has long ties to mid South politics, including Al Gore. Harold Ford Jr. can often say things so very well, but he’s forced to go with party line or with the wider foreign policy narratives that others want to hear. Had he made emphasis to be more his own person, like the presumed nominee has done, he might have been The One running.

      Glad to hear of his marriage, and look forward to hearing well of him in the future, he makes some good points when he speaks.

      • TeakWoodKite

        Harold Ford Jr is a very bright person. I think it was the girls and football remark that shaved of his support.

        I was rootin’ for Harold Ford Jr, as Corker…well as his name indicates…

  • prince dude

    yeah people in states like w virginia, and kentcuky would except harold ford, because harold is a patrioit, and a member of the nra!!why if the democrats wanted to run african american, they should of ran him,instead of obama!!!

    • Southern Lady

      I agree, I like Harold Ford Jr and even though I am not African American NOR from Tennessee, I contributed to his campaign.
      Harold appears to be very trustworthy and we know his back ground while what we know about Obama is not trustworthy nor honest and his friends and associates have consisted of Terrorists, crooks, anti-semites, racist preachers and an ugly mean wife, not to mention he is a liar about his accomplishments and in actuality has NO Experience.

  • Karma

    What great news. I was watching this today….thrilled for the families and for the people who were able to execute the rescue.

    It underscores the probelm with the liberal line that Obama has. If only the US was nicer the whole world would be too. He wants to hobble our technology, space programs, and the military. All of which have provided the world with modern conveniences and Tang.

    What is childhood without Tang? We didn’t have kool-aid in the house…lol.

    Anyway, back on point. The liberal line doesn’t take into consideration that there are psychopaths, sociopaths, the greedy, or power hungry, who probably fill the seats in Congress pretty well. As is the case with other countries. We all see lots of people in those seats serving themselves and not the people they claim to care about.

    The world isn’t fair and no matter how much liberals think if the US would just be nice….the world would change. It ignores world history and the fact that psychopathic personalities, countries, or another political party will now feed on the naive and subdued. And Obama is just subduing the masses so his money men can ravage the coffers.

    Rather than geniunely fighting the good fight. They’ve proven repeatedly they don’t expect or require results for the masses. The money and the manipulation is the goal.

    The FARC terrorists. It seems like the money and manipulation is also the goal, as they sell drugs and hostages under the flag of ideology. An ideology that only seems to provide cheap labor to the leaders, at the expense of competition and innovation of the masses.

    A stagnant ideology in the midst of a globalization speed train. That is a recipe for disaster….Obama.

    And it seem that he knows it with his desire to slow down America and it’s innovation.

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39KZ2afBtLU UribeFan

    Alvredo Uribe has been great plus of energy to Colombia.
    He listen to whitey, unlike Mrs. Obama.

  • Anonymous

    At the end of the day, you still have to ask yourself, how many innocent columbians get their throats slit, just so that the US can continue to be the number one drug abusing nation in the world.

    You want to help the columbians? You REALLY want to help them? Support fast track execution for drug crimes in the US. Stab anyone you know who does drugs. Put snipers on the borders to kill anyone who dares to carry drugs here.

    All this talk of free trade with columbia is just so much bullshit. Although, what the columbians did here deserves credit, it’s hopeless. There is simply too much money and power flowing out of the United States and into the hands of the most evil people on the planet. All so that selfish Americans (mostly liberals, I might add) can keep engaging in corrupt, self-destructive behavior.

    • candymarl

      Ummm stab drug addicts? Isn’t that a tad harsh? How do you most drug addicts are liberals? You know all of them personally? You don’t remember the 80′s? I do. It was the buttoned down white collar Wall Street types that were some of the biggest cocaine users. They tended to be Reagan supporters. But let’s feed into the stereotypes.

    • Karma

      Wow…you claim self-destructive behavior but now you want to kill people for it?

      http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/01/health/webmd/main4222322.shtml

      These are reports of people who did drugs within their lifetime. Do you suspect maybe a college kid away from home might try marijuana, cocaine, tobacco and alcohol which would skew those results higher? Because that report has 74% having tried tobacco is quite high. While the % of smokers in the US has gone down.

      To be fair, the War on Drugs was meant to target those same liberals and college kids and get them off the voting rolls for Nixon. It was Hoover’s idea. So, now you take addiction which is a mental health issue, college experimentation, and a Republican voting tactic, and claim it is worthy of a death sentence?

      Nevermind the fact, that some countries have used drugs as a commodity and a weapon….can you say opium? From what I understand drugs are being shipped to Russia, both Columbian cocaine and Afghan heroin. In what seems like a political weapon as well. China, Pakistan, India, Europe have all reported increases in heroin abuse.

      http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8180

      http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/5581-11.cfm

      http://www.interpol.int/public/Drugs/heroin/default.asp

      As far as the comment about the US giving money to evil people. How many normal people do you know that seek high office? There is something already off about people who are politicians.

      They sell their soul for the power to control (Obama).

      Anyway, drug use is horrible, but a death sentence for someone probably drowning childhood abuse or neglect issues is harsh. Killing US citizens or drug dealers won’t stop addiction here or around the world. And as stated previously, it strips away a tool for politicians to thin the herd, on the global scale, at the polls, and the colleges. Student loans are not rewarded to those with a drug conviction in their background.

      http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/2008/04/11/column__drug_convictions_should_not_lead_to_lack_of_federal_aid

      Too much money and control surrounds drugs…a death sentence addresses none of it.

  • Lucinda

    My best wishes go out to the hostages who were finally freed. They’re going to need a long-term adjustment period, and I hope the media will be respectful of that.

  • NY still loves Hillary

    Great story Larry! And thanks for the responses/opinions above. It never ceases to amaze me how well informed the people on this blog are. I can always count on No Quarter to give me an unexpected perspective and details I won’t find anywhere else.

    I must confess that I’m relatively unfamiliar with Uribe. I’ll be doing more research on him (and especially his connections with Chavez and Castro) thanks to you.

  • http://hickeysite.blogspot.com Pat Hickey

    Larry,

    Great story indeed! As a career intelligence agent, this had to be especially pleasing for you.

    I can not wait for more follow-up when the INTEL is sorted out – I suspect more on William Ayers and his harpy of a wife Bernadine Dorhn and their long-time assistance to Hugo Chavez will play in this POTUS campaign.

    http://hickeysite.blogspot.com/2008/07/john-mccain-obama-wrong-on-columbia.html

    N.B. In the early hours I too paced the wrong vowel in COLOMBIA!

    Viva Uribe y Colombia!

  • C.S.

    I am glad that the imprisonment of Ingrid Betancourt and Clara Rejas is over. Their captors may never be brought to justice and their lives will never be the same but I hope being back with their families can bring them peace.

    This is a reminder that the “evil that men do” has lasting consequences. Betancourt and Rojas were in a jungle prison for 6 years simply because they were trying to make their country a better place to live. And the implication was that if she hadn’t gone into dangerous rebel territory to ask for the vote of her people it wouldn’t have happened to them. An old familiar refrain to women everywhere. IF she hadn’t done that particular thing….

    Not the same severe punishment, but parallel to what happened to Senator Hillary Clinton in a way because of the threats made against her during her campaign. IF she hadn’t dared to invade the male domain to run for president she wouldn’t have suffered all the “slings and arrows”…. Women just never seem to “learn their place”, do they?

  • susanunpc

    Very few news stories make me break out in a wide smile. This one has. Every time I hear it. I had a hunch that the clever plan was perhaps aided by the U.S., particularly given the FARC’s involvement in the drug trade.

    I remember, over the years, hearing about those Americans. Sometimes, their families would get to be on television to publicize their plight. I assumed they’d never be free, and might already be dead.

    Their freedom is such a huge relief for them and their families.

    (A grandmother of one of the men just said that the U.S. government gave “no help, no help at all.” That’s alright. She probably felt that way talking to the usual officials one might speak with. But there are so many Americans who help make things happen but who will never be recognized. Thankfully, recognition isn’t their job motivator. It’s doing the right thing as well as helping their country.)

    • Karma

      I agree….there are a lot people who serve in the military and govt expecting no recognition just the honor of trying to make a difference.

      Then there are the politicians who make govt work look like a dirty job and dishonor those same people.

    • ea

      Uhh, Uribe’s own ties to the drug trade is well-known.

      • ea

        Sorry, are well-known.

  • Jesus Reyes

    This was another unilateral prisoner release by FARC, after FARC was called upon by Chávez to release prisoners and following a FARC’s track record of unconditional prisoner releases earlier this year. The Colombian military fabricated it into a rescue operation. The complicit western media, especially CNN,is reporting that the prisoner release today was actually a rescue by the Colombia military.

    • http://hotair.com/archives/2008/06/02/michelle-obama-dont-trust-bloggers-because-people-lie/ Kelly

      I think this is Chavez prop at his best. Did not he claim to have arranged a failed release months ago? I cannot believe that FARC takes orders from Chavez. I can also see how the military role of Columbia may have been puffed up.

      CNN is likely not complicit- they just get the news from the same places as everyone else- those news wires. I doubt there was CNN reporter there.

      I only know FARC from mainstream media too. My school did not teach FARC as my Marxist prof said their model was so outside the other models in Central and South America.

  • TeakWoodKite

    susanunpc; I echo your sentiments.

    Mr. Johnson…Hell of a laptop eh?

  • ea

    Please, read further than the Washington Post! It is ridiculous to give Uribe unqualified credit for this. I LIVE in South America and have followed this hostage situation for awhile. A major player in the hostage negotiations and this rescue (both in front of the cameras and behind the scenes) has been Hugo Chávez Frías, President of Venezuela. Uribe was forced into action, because of other world leaders’ (including Sarkozy of France) involvement in pursuing releases.

    There is no doubt this will be a boost for Uribe and will help his standing within Colombia after the screw-ups in crossing into other countries (Ecuador and Venezuela) earlier. I’m thrilled for this success, but I would not go for the adulation of “strong …leader”. He has faced recent protests within his own country and has NOT been well-viewed in other Latin American countries.

    BTW, Venezuela’s economy has been hard-hit by inflation, not a surprise (though definitely unpleasant) for any oil economy and not different from periods the U.S.A. has gone through. Take a hard look at the current state of the U.S. economy before taking a deprecatory view of those of other countries. ALL of the Latin American countries will have difficulties as a result of being tied to the U.S. dollar.

    FYI, Chávez’s current approval rating is 73.9%. I won’t get into the Plan Colombia debate.

  • mlr701

    This was fantastic news first thing in the morning. Best news I’ve heard in while.

    Hmmm, you were in Colombia a while ago, weren’t you Larry? ;-)

  • Room 237

    The Colombian soldiers used unfair trickery. The soldiers wore Che tee shirts, making the FARC guerillas think they were dealing with a bunch of Obama supporters.

  • John

    It is interesting that when the Colombian military wanted to deceive the FARC terrorists, they included wearing tee-shirts of the favorite icon of young Obama supporters. Although it is not just “young” Obama supporters who are proud of their hero-worship of Che.

    See below:

    http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-06-10-ohio-lethal-injection_N.htm

  • Pingback: Colombia » Colombia es Pasion

  • Gay McGowan

    Nations of Americas On the March Against Britain’s Opium War

    July 27 2008 (LPAC)–In the wake of its audacious July 2 liberation of 15 high-profile hostages held by the narcoterrorist FARC, the Colombian government is organizing an anti-drug summit for next week, to which 23 nations have been invited, Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez announced on July 24.

    The July 30-August 1 summit on “Illegal Drugs, Security and Cooperation in the Caribbean, Central America, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela,” will be hosted by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. The Presidents of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Panama have already confirmed their attendance, as has the Vice Foreign Minister of Cuba. Other Heads of State, Foreign Ministers, Attorneys General, etc., are expected to join them.

    The spirit of the Colombian diplomatic offensive is captured by the warning the Colombian Ambassador delivered at the Organization of American States on July 24 to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, the only Head of State in the region still defending the FARC: “Help us bury the FARC’s corpse; don’t bury yourself with it.”

    A momentous shift back towards securing peace and development throughout the region has followed Colombia’s July 2 success, the most dramatic of a series of blows delivered to the FARC top leadership over the past year. The July 2 action–which included significant institutional support from both the United States and France, demonstrates that the FARC, the world’s largest cocaine cartel, openly backed by the City of London and Wall Street, can be defeated.

    The combination of that FARC defeat, and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe’s announcement three days later that Colombia welcomed Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s offer for their two nations to build a regional railway, catalyzed significant further motion towards dumping the British free trade system regionwide. In effect, the informal South American Presidents’ Club has swung back into action, despite the fact that the Kirchners in Argentina–previously the sparkplug of regional integration efforts–have been put in check for the past few months by the
    destabilization operation in that country.

    * On July 11, Chavez and Uribe, with maps in hand, discussed the great potential of their countries cooperating on developing railroads, waterways and food.

    * On July 18, Brazilian President Lula da Silva, Venezuela’s Chavez and Bolivia’s Evo Morales announced investments to construct the Bolivian highway portion of a bi-oceanic corridor, connecting Brazilian ports on the Atlantic with Chilean and Peruvian ports on the Pacific, going through Bolivia.

    * On July 19, Lula da Silva and Uribe announced agreements for Brazil and Colombia to cooperate on rail, food, and joint industrial projects, and that Colombia had agreed to join the South American Defense Council being organized by Brazil.

    * On July 20, Peru’s President Alan Garcia joined Lula and Uribe in celebrating Colombia’s Independence Day, and signing a tri-state agreement to cooperate against the drug trade.

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