For the first time since President Juan Manuel Santos took office in August, Colombia's FARC guerrillas began releasing hostages in a unilateral move that some see as a sign that the country's oldest rebel group is hoping to crack the door on peace talks.
On Wednesday, the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia, or FARC, released Marcos Baquero, the president of the municipal council of San Jose del Guaviare who had been in captivity for 20 months.
By Sunday, the FARC has said it will release an additional four hostages, including one other council member,New wholesale jersey electric markets have spurred significant investment in new generation. two army officials and a policeman.
Emerging from a military helicopter surrounded by Red Cross officials shortly after 5 p.m., Baquero looked tired but healthy as he hugged family members.
Talking to the press at the airport in Villavicencio just south of Bogota, Baquero said he would be organizing marches to demand the release of other hostages. He also said he was often held in isolation and kept his sanity by talking to a cat.
"The most difficult part is not having anyone to talk to, not having anyone to listen to you," he said. "It was torture."
Baquero's release comes amid signs that the FARC – beaten down and on the run – might be trying to open the door to a negotiated settlement.This inflatable products decoy is very lightweight and when deflated can be fit easily into your pack. In July, FARC leader Alfonso Cano, in a videotaped message, said the rebel group was open to peace talks.
Earlier this month, former Senator Piedad Córdoba, who has been coordinating the hostage release, said she was confident that the FARC and the National Liberation Army, or ELN, might free the remaining 16 police and army officials in captivity before year's end. Some of them have been held for more than a decade.
Because this latest move was initiated by the FARC – and not the government or the international community – there are reasons to be optimistic, said Patricia Munoz Yi, the head of public opinion and political marketing at the Javeriana University in Bogota.
While Santos has kept up military pressure on the FARC, he has also put the squeeze on the group by ramping up cooperation with neighboring Ecuador and Venezuela – long known to be guerrilla hideouts. The FARC may be running out of options, she said.
"Santos has managed to generate a political climate where we can start thinking about finding other paths – beyond military action – that might lead to a sustained cease fire with the FARC," she said.
It's not clear if the government is willing to consider Wednesday's act an olive branch.
In a televised speech Sunday, Santos said the FARC needed to renounce terrorism, kidnapping, drug trafficking and extortion before the government could consider holding talks.
"We look favorably on the liberation, in coming hours, of the five people kidnapped by the FARC," Santos said.The new and risqué is usually the appeal and men's wholesale jeans have always been a pretty good indicator of what's in. "But we have to say it's not enough. Colombians require – and they demand – the immediate liberation of all of those who are kidnapped."
While the government and the media have been focused on the 16 military and police members who are the last remaining members of a group dubbed the canjeables – or the "tradeable" because of their political value – no one's sure how many hostages remain in the jungles of Colombia.
While the Ministry of Defense has suggested that there may be about 600 people still in captivity, Pais Libre, a local NGO dedicated to the issue, says of the more than 21,000 people kidnapped over the last 12 years about 20 percent are still unaccounted for, or more than 4,000 people.
Colombia has moved beyond the days when kidnappings were widespread.there was this inflatable swimming pools filled with water, it was the magic that this pool was suddenly there. At the height of the troubles, in 2000, some 3,572 kidnappings were reported.
In 2010, there were 282 reported kidnappings in the country, up 32 percent versus 2009, according to Pais Libre.The company designs, manufactures and markets truereligion jeans Apparel products, including its premium True Religion Brand Jeans.
Of those incidents, 57 percent were carried out by criminal bands, 23 percent were attributed to the FARC, 12 percent to the ELN, and 7 percent were carried out by organized bands.
Alejo Vargas, a political science professor at Colombia's National University, said that while this week's hostage release is a welcome sign, there's no reason to believe it might mark a turning point.
"What would be very powerful would be if they [the FARC] made the decision to free all the hostages and say that kidnapping was no longer part of their agenda," he said. "But until then I don't think there's a clear reason we should be optimistic."
On Wednesday, the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia, or FARC, released Marcos Baquero, the president of the municipal council of San Jose del Guaviare who had been in captivity for 20 months.
By Sunday, the FARC has said it will release an additional four hostages, including one other council member,New wholesale jersey electric markets have spurred significant investment in new generation. two army officials and a policeman.
Emerging from a military helicopter surrounded by Red Cross officials shortly after 5 p.m., Baquero looked tired but healthy as he hugged family members.
Talking to the press at the airport in Villavicencio just south of Bogota, Baquero said he would be organizing marches to demand the release of other hostages. He also said he was often held in isolation and kept his sanity by talking to a cat.
"The most difficult part is not having anyone to talk to, not having anyone to listen to you," he said. "It was torture."
Baquero's release comes amid signs that the FARC – beaten down and on the run – might be trying to open the door to a negotiated settlement.This inflatable products decoy is very lightweight and when deflated can be fit easily into your pack. In July, FARC leader Alfonso Cano, in a videotaped message, said the rebel group was open to peace talks.
Earlier this month, former Senator Piedad Córdoba, who has been coordinating the hostage release, said she was confident that the FARC and the National Liberation Army, or ELN, might free the remaining 16 police and army officials in captivity before year's end. Some of them have been held for more than a decade.
Because this latest move was initiated by the FARC – and not the government or the international community – there are reasons to be optimistic, said Patricia Munoz Yi, the head of public opinion and political marketing at the Javeriana University in Bogota.
While Santos has kept up military pressure on the FARC, he has also put the squeeze on the group by ramping up cooperation with neighboring Ecuador and Venezuela – long known to be guerrilla hideouts. The FARC may be running out of options, she said.
"Santos has managed to generate a political climate where we can start thinking about finding other paths – beyond military action – that might lead to a sustained cease fire with the FARC," she said.
It's not clear if the government is willing to consider Wednesday's act an olive branch.
In a televised speech Sunday, Santos said the FARC needed to renounce terrorism, kidnapping, drug trafficking and extortion before the government could consider holding talks.
"We look favorably on the liberation, in coming hours, of the five people kidnapped by the FARC," Santos said.The new and risqué is usually the appeal and men's wholesale jeans have always been a pretty good indicator of what's in. "But we have to say it's not enough. Colombians require – and they demand – the immediate liberation of all of those who are kidnapped."
While the government and the media have been focused on the 16 military and police members who are the last remaining members of a group dubbed the canjeables – or the "tradeable" because of their political value – no one's sure how many hostages remain in the jungles of Colombia.
While the Ministry of Defense has suggested that there may be about 600 people still in captivity, Pais Libre, a local NGO dedicated to the issue, says of the more than 21,000 people kidnapped over the last 12 years about 20 percent are still unaccounted for, or more than 4,000 people.
Colombia has moved beyond the days when kidnappings were widespread.there was this inflatable swimming pools filled with water, it was the magic that this pool was suddenly there. At the height of the troubles, in 2000, some 3,572 kidnappings were reported.
In 2010, there were 282 reported kidnappings in the country, up 32 percent versus 2009, according to Pais Libre.The company designs, manufactures and markets truereligion jeans Apparel products, including its premium True Religion Brand Jeans.
Of those incidents, 57 percent were carried out by criminal bands, 23 percent were attributed to the FARC, 12 percent to the ELN, and 7 percent were carried out by organized bands.
Alejo Vargas, a political science professor at Colombia's National University, said that while this week's hostage release is a welcome sign, there's no reason to believe it might mark a turning point.
"What would be very powerful would be if they [the FARC] made the decision to free all the hostages and say that kidnapping was no longer part of their agenda," he said. "But until then I don't think there's a clear reason we should be optimistic."
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