Three American hostages rescued from leftist guerillas in Colombia arrived safely in Texas early yesterday and were taken to a military hospital, where they were expected to reunite with their families and undergo tests and treatment.
The US military contractors — Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell — were held for five years by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Their plane landed at Lackland Air Force Base shortly after 11pm on Wednesday. The men then quickly boarded two helicopters headed to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, where they landed a short time later.
PHOTO: EPA/US EMBASSY
Ingrid Betancourt and 11 Colombian police and soldiers were also freed in the same operation on Wednesday.
The Americans, all wearing olive green flight suits, exited the back end of an Air Force C-17 with little fanfare, surrounded by several other people.
Their drug-surveillance plane went down in the rebel-held Colombian jungle in February 2003.
PHOTO: AFP
The three were the longest-held American hostages in the world, the US Embassy in Bogota said.
They were employees of a Northrop Grumman Corp subsidiary that has supported Colombia’s fight against drugs and rebels.
Their families have complained publicly about what seemed to be the US government’s failure to act to win the men’s release.
LONG WAIT
“We didn’t know what the heck was going on,” Gonsalves’ father, George, told reporters. “I’m getting information from you guys.”
The Americans’ fate seemed particularly grim after “proof-of-life” images released last November showed them appearing haggard, even haunted, against a deep jungle background.
The three contractors and Betancourt were among a group of rebel-designated “political prisoners” whom the FARC planned to release only in exchange for hundreds of imprisoned rebels.
But every attempt at talking about a prisoner swap seemed to go nowhere.
Behind the scenes, however, Colombia’s armed forces were closing in on the rebels, with the help of billions of dollars in US military support.
RESCUE EFFORTS
The US and Colombian governments learned the hostages’ location “any number of times” and planned several rescue missions during their five years in captivity, but the difficulty of extracting them alive had prevented the missions from being carried out, said a US government official in Washington who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of intelligence matters.
Last month, Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said soldiers had spotted the three men in the southern jungles, but they disappeared into the forest before the troops could attempt a rescue.
And after the men were freed on Wednesday, US Ambassador William Brownfield said US and Colombian forces cooperated closely on the rescue mission, including sharing intelligence, equipment, training advice and operational experience.
The Americans appeared healthy in a video shown on Colombian television, though Brownfield, who met with them at a Colombian military base, said two of the three were suffering from the jungle malady leishmaniasis and “looking forward to modern medical treatment.”
FAMILIES REACT
Gonsalves’ father George was mowing his yard when an excited neighbor relayed the news he had seen on television.
“I didn’t know how to stop my lawnmower,” he said. “I was shocked. I couldn’t believe it.”
“We’re still teary-eyed and not quite have our wits about us,” said Stansell’s stepmother, Lynne.
And Howes’ niece, Amanda Howes, said the rescue “redefines the word miracle.”
Congratulations poured in to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe from US President George W. Bush and other world leaders.
Republican Senator John McCain said Uribe had told him in advance of the rescue plans when he was in Colombia on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“It’s a very high-risk operation,” he said. “I congratulate President Uribe, the military and the nation of Colombia.”
Gonsalves’ father, who later got a phone call from the FBI confirming his son was free, expected an emotional family reunion, especially for his son’s three children, now teenagers.
“Think about your children if they don’t see you for a week a weekend or a month,” he said. “It’s five years pulled out of your life.”
Drug lord Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, alias “Fito,” was Ecuador’s most-wanted fugitive before his arrest on Wednesday, more than a year after he escaped prison from where he commanded the country’s leading criminal gang. The former taxi driver turned crime boss became the prime target of law enforcement early last year after escaping from a prison in the southwestern port of Guayaquil. Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa’s government released “wanted” posters with images of his face and offered US$1 million for information leading to his capture. In a country plagued by crime, members of Fito’s gang, Los Choneros, have responded with violence, using car
Two former Chilean ministers are among four candidates competing this weekend for the presidential nomination of the left ahead of November elections dominated by rising levels of violent crime. More than 15 million voters are eligible to choose today between former minister of labor Jeannette Jara, former minister of the interior Carolina Toha and two members of parliament, Gonzalo Winter and Jaime Mulet, to represent the left against a resurgent right. The primary is open to members of the parties within Chilean President Gabriel Boric’s ruling left-wing coalition and other voters who are not affiliated with specific parties. A recent poll by the
TENSIONS HIGH: For more than half a year, students have organized protests around the country, while the Serbian presaident said they are part of a foreign plot About 140,000 protesters rallied in Belgrade, the largest turnout over the past few months, as student-led demonstrations mount pressure on the populist government to call early elections. The rally was one of the largest in more than half a year student-led actions, which began in November last year after the roof of a train station collapsed in the northern city of Novi Sad, killing 16 people — a tragedy widely blamed on entrenched corruption. On Saturday, a sea of protesters filled Belgrade’s largest square and poured into several surrounding streets. The independent protest monitor Archive of Public Gatherings estimated the
Irish-language rap group Kneecap on Saturday gave an impassioned performance for tens of thousands of fans at the Glastonbury Festival despite criticism by British politicians and a terror charge for one of the trio. Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, has been charged under the UK’s Terrorism Act with supporting a proscribed organization for allegedly waving a Hezbollah flag at a concert in London in November last year. The rapper, who was charged under the anglicized version of his name, Liam O’Hanna, is on unconditional bail before a further court hearing in August. “Glastonbury,
RSS