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Video: Freed Hostages Call FARC “Terrorists With A Capital T”
Well Said.
American Hostages Rescued In Columbia Return To U.S.
The three American contractors held hostage in Columbia by FARC terrorists for more than five years have arrived back in the U.S.
They returned to the U.S. late Wednesday, as their plane landed at Lackland Air Force Base shortly after 11 p.m. All appeared well as they exited the Air Force C-17 without fanfare. The men were flown by choppers to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where they were expected to undergo tests and be reunited with their families.
The U.S. military contractors — Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell — had been held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia since their drug-surveillance plane went down in the jungle in February 2003. Nowhere in the world have American hostages currently in captivity been held longer, according to the U.S. Embassy in Bogota.
The three were rescued when Colombian spies tricked leftist rebels into handing them over along with kidnapped presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt. She was also freed Wednesday, as were 11 Colombian police and soldiers.
Eric Atkisson of U.S. Army South, said Thursday the former hostages would not be speaking publicly Thursday.
It’s really amazing that the three of them made it through that ordeal. I can remember watching interviews with them on ‘60 Minutes’ five years ago only five months after their plane crashed. I don’t think America lived up to its responsibility to bring these guys home sooner. Having said that, thank God they’re finally home and can reunite with their families.
Chavez Calls The Killing Of FARC Rebels By Columbia A ‘War Crime’
It looks like Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez is off his meds again, because he’s talking crazy. Columbia was finally fortunate enough to kill some of the vicious FARC terrorists that they’ve been battling for years and Hugo Chavez thinks it was a “war crime.”
Although new information that Columbia has made public in the last couple of days may help to explain the bizarre reaction of Venezuela’s tyrant. Columbian authorities are claiming that a laptop plucked from the remains of one of the dead terrorists shows that Hugo Chavez has been a FARC “sugar daddy” for quite some time now.
The documents on the laptop reveal that Chavez has been a financial backer of the group for more than a decade, and at one point gave FARC a $300 million dollar gift. The documents also reveal an ongoing plan cooked up by Chavez and the leaders of the terror group to isolate and undermine Columbia’s President and U.S. ally, Alvaro Uribe.
President Uribe is the first leader of Columbia in decades that’s not up to his eyeballs in corruption and is actually angry that Columbia has the highest kidnapping rate in the world. With the help of the U.S., Uribe is hoping to wipe out FARC once and for all.
The recovered laptop reveals detailed communications between FARC leaders and Chavez, in which multiple scenarios are laid out to hopefully get rid of President Uribe.
Hopefully, someone will have Hugo Chavez killed so that we can be rid of this petty dictator. If he’s allowed to live he will destroy Venezuela and live to a ripe old age just like his best friend Fidel Castro.
-Chris Jones
Columbia Says Chavez Is Funding FARC Rebels
From the AP:
Venezuela and Ecuador sought Monday to make Colombia pay a high price for killing a leftist rebel leader in the Ecuadorean jungle—expelling its diplomats, ordering troops to the border and cracking down on trade across the border.
But Colombia quickly struck back, revealing what it said were incriminating documents seized from the rebel camp that suggest its neighbors have been secretly supporting the leftist rebels’ deadly insurgency.
And in a tit-for-tat move, Venezuela later displayed the laptop of a slain drug trafficker, which it said contained information implicating Colombia’s national police chief in the cocaine trade….READ THE REST
Another World Leader Puts Chavez in his place
Earlier this year Columbian President Alvaro Uribe asked Hugo Chavez to act as mediator between the Columbian government and leftist guerrillas. Uribe asked Chavez to mediate, because the rebels have expressed admiration for the dictator of Venezuela.
The hope was that Chavez could broker the release of hostages held by the guerrillas, or at the very least work out some kind of prisoner swap with the Columbian government.
When Chavez asked Uribe for permission to talk with Colombian generals about the hostages, the Uribe responded with the humor he often uses to diffuse tension with the Venezuelan leader: “No, you might turn them into Chavez-followers.”
But on Wednesday Chavez got on the telephone with the head of Colombia’s armed forces and asked about the kidnap victims whom Uribe wants to swap for guerrillas held in jail.
Upon hearing that Chavez had defied his orders not to speak with the Columbian armed forces, President Uribe abruptly canceled the talks and fired Chavez.
President Uribe is very popular with Columbians, because he refuses to be intimidated by rebel groups such as the FARC which routinely kidnap columbian citizens and foreigners.
Columbia has the highest rate of kidnappings in the world, and President Uribe is the first President in many years who appears to be making some headway against the criminal elements that have run wild in Columbia for decades.
-Samantha Giles
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