The Vice-President of Colombia criticised strongly the actions of committees set up to support the French -Colombian woman Ingrid Betancourt, who, in his opinion are an obstacle to her liberation.

“The obvious support given by the (support) committees and some (French) municipalities have only increased her worth (size of her ransom) and has probably condemned her to be the last one to be freed because of her value” said Francisco Santos during a press conference in Washington.

“AS far as Farc are concerned, hostages are a commodity , not human beings. They are like a bag of potatoes or a kilo of cocaine”, he said.

Actions carried out by the Ingrid Betancourt support committees, far from embarrassing Farc, have” the opposite effect of reinforcing their cruelty and their capacity to negociate”,states the 2nd in command of the Colombian government.

However, Santos praised French government action which has prioritised the freeing of Ingrid Betancourt.

“French government action is very different”, he said, stating there had not been any pressure from French authorities and that the French and Colombian governments “were working together”.

We seek a “joint solution” leading to the freeing of all hostages”, said Santos.

Farc, the Marxist guerrillas have been fighting since 1964 against the Colombian authorities, are demanding the release of 500 of their prisoners in exchange for 45 of their hostages known as “political’ hostages, among them Ingrid Betancourt and three Americans.

Negotiations for the releasing of hostages started years ago with Farc demands to demilitarise a huge area, still refused by the Colombian authorities.

Reaction from FICIB

FICIB (The International Federation of Ingrid Betancourt Committees) has learned with concern but not with surprise statements by Vice-President of Colombia, Francisco Santos, who criticised today actions taken by the committees, repeating word for word a statement he made in June of this year.

Trying to make others believe that support campaigns- in particular the nomination by nearly 2000 towns and municipalities of Ingrid Betancourt as an” Honorary Citizen”, could have “increased her value”, contradicts the facts. The “price” demanded by the guerrillas in February to free Ingrid and the other hostages is well known: talks with the Colombian government to exchange about fifty prisoners(military and police) and other civilian hostages for 500 guerrillas. This “price” has not changed today, nearly six years later.

Trying to make others believe that a release is easier without publicising Ingrid’s situation also contradicts the facts. Among the hostages who share Ingrid’s fate are the 32 military and police personnel some of whom have been held, for 10 years and for whom there had been absolutely no publicity prior to Ingrid’s kidnapping. Their families are unanimous in confirming that only the actions of the committees, and the visibility they gave to the prisoners’ fate, allowed them to remain hopeful of seeing them alive one day.

It is the actions of the committees, helped by thousands of towns and municipalities that have sustained their campaigns since 2002 which consequently resulted in the current situation whereby more international groups, in Europe and in North and South America decided to get involved to resolve a problem that has stagnated for 10 years, mainly due to a lack of a genuine will on the part of both sided to succeed.

Since the beginning, our committees have been campaigning, alongside all the families for the liberation of all the hostages, not solely Ingrid Betancourt. \it is pure speculation to imagine that as a result of our actions, Ingrid could be , as the Vice-President maintains, the last to be freed. But even if theist is the case, the question is not to know who will be the first or the last freed. The question is to save the lives of ALL hostages, before it is too late.

The Betancourt family reaction..

Yolanda Pulecio, Ingrid Betancourt’s mother and Astrid Betancourt, her sister, stated their complete disagreement with Vice-President Santos’s statements who has just expressed criticisms which thye believe to be unfounded with regard to the Ingrid Betancourt Committees.

“It is not because the kidnapped officers and policemen held for 10 years remain anonymous that they would have been freed d due to the action of the Colombian government and the guerrilla…

On the other hand, what is certain is that if Ingrid and Clara are still alive today, it is due to the worldwide mobilisation brought about by the committees’ actions – one must remember that after they had been kidnapped, Farc gave the Colombian government one year to conclude a prisoner exchange; after that period they declared that they would not be answerable for their lives.”

W e can only have the deepest gratitude, on behalf of Ingrid and all the families of those held hostage in Colombia, for the constant work done every day for six years by all the volunteers belonging to the committees.