It was great news to hear that some high profile hostages were rescued from the FARC yesterday. Included were ex-presidential candidate Ingrid Bentancourt and three American military contractors. The photo below is from the Washington Post and shows the three guys in 2003. They have been held captive for years.
I lived in Barranquilla, Colombia from 1992-97 and have strong feelings about the situation.
The FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) is a guerrilla movement against the Colombian government. There insurgency has gone on for decades and they controlled big portions of the country. The movement started because of the inequalities in Colombian society. In Colombia and other Latin American countries, the gap between rich and poor is immense. The majority of population is poor. A hard-working and talented individual has a difficult time in bettering his/her life and that of his/her children. There are many ideas on whose fault this is. There is not a strong community consciousness in Latin America. It shows in the lack of infrastructure and aid to the less fortunate of the society.
Throughout the decades of struggle, FARC has relied on kidnapping, drug trafficking, and terror to fund and promote their cause. This has caused great tragedy to thousands of lives of ordinary Colombian citizens.
In recent years the US government has greatly aided Colombian president, Alvaro Uribe in his fight against the FARC. The Plan Colombia funnels money and technical military assistance into the country and Colombia now ranks only behind Israel in US foreign aid. Uribe’s father was killed by another guerrilla group in Colombia and he has been relentless in his fight against them. The plan is working as in the past year, many top commanders have been killed and the FARC is in disarray. The latest success in rescuing their “top” hostages is another serious blow to the organization. It looks like their days are numbered.
A few months ago I listened to the interviews with released hostages. The Venezuelan government did a deal that got several hostages free. The interviews were shocking and they described life in captivity. No medical attention, chained to trees in the jungle, etc. I can only imagine the horror and sadness with them and their families. Worse yet, there are still over 700 people being held by the FARC.
I really hope that the FARC and other groups are wiped out. I also hope that Uribe and the leaders of Colombia, continue to receive US aid. Not only to wipe out the terrorist groups, but more importantly to assist in getting rid of poverty. If the US would concentrate more on this instead of anti-drug aid, Latin America and the US would both be ahead.
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