Soldier rescued in July with famed French-Colombian politico Ingrid Betancourt, three U.S. military contractors and other hostages asks not to forget those still left behind.

By Marina Segura Ramos

MADRID -- Colombian soldier William Perez, held hostage by leftist rebels for 10 years, said here that his soul is not "contaminated" with resentment toward his former captors and that he only yearns for the freedom of the brothers in arms he left behind in the jungle.

The soldier was rescued in July along with famed French-Colombian politico Ingrid Betancourt, three U.S. military contractors and other hostages in a complicated operation carried out by Colombian army commandos.

Betancourt is "to blame" for why he has hardly had time to talk with his mother, brothers and sisters and friends, Perez, 33, joked in an interview Saturday with Efe in Madrid, where he traveled to receive a human rights prize from the General Council of Spanish Lawyers.

But he said the transition back to normal life has not been easy.

According to Perez, he didn't recognize the sound of mobile phones and was bothered by the noise; electric lights hurt his eyes; he had no desire for the food he used to dream about while in captivity; and at first he found it difficult to observe his surroundings because he had grown accustomed to seeing no more than two meters in front of him in the thick jungle.

He said while in Madrid he has been surprised by the rain, automobiles passing by, the flying of birds and the air pollution in the city.

During the 10 years and four months he was held hostage, Perez served as a nurse, attending to his fellow hostages and even on occasion saving the lives of his guerrilla captors, who he said showed no appreciation and gave him food mixed with sand, glass and nails and forced him to walk in rags for days to escape the pursuit of the Colombian army.

The corporal, who has begun to study French now that France has offered him a scholarship to study medicine, said he suffered "terrible things" in the jungle but in spite of it all he doesn't harbor any resentment.

"There's no justification for what they did and I hope they reconsider their actions but it's almost impossible because these are people unhinged by a faded ideology. I feel sorry for them because the conditions in which they live are terrible," the soldier said.

He was chained for six of his 10 years in captivity, while the remainder of the time he was tied with a type of rope around his arms and neck that squeezed his throat when his captors pulled on it. "They would choke you a little and you'd fall to the ground," he said.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which held Perez captive, and a smaller rebel army have fought a decades-old struggle against Colombian government forces and far-right paramilitaries.

Although once a threat to the stability of the state, the guerrillas have been badly weakened in recent years through the efforts of Colombia's hard-line president, whose government has received billions in military aid from the United States to battle both the insurgents and the illegal drug trade.

The FARC, which is financed in large part by the illegal drug trade, has suffered a series of crushing blows this year in particular.

Three of the guerillas' top commanders -- among them the group's No. 2 Raul Reyes and founder Manuel "Sureshot" Marulanda, who succumbed to a heart attack -- have either died or been killed since March.

But according to many analysts, the freeing of former Colombian presidential candidate Betancourt in July - in an elaborate ruse that exposed the deplorable state of the group's communications network - was the biggest blow to the FARC in its 44-year history.

Perez said that during his time in the jungle he showed the guerrillas the difference between them and a soldier.

"Out of sense of ethics and because of my training I can't see someone dying or sick and, even if it's the enemy, do nothing for him," he said.

But in return for the care he provided he received no measure of thanks, although he said his kidnappers did not bother him excessively.

He said that following his release he has noted "a different environment in Colombia: the people see you and get emotional. Colombia is having a rebirth now, a reawakening, it's supporting its security forces..."

Perez said that his biggest struggle at the moment is to ensure the world does not forget about his 28 fellow military soldiers who are still being held captive.

"I ask Ingrid not to forget the image of the hostages, because when we were all there we would say that so and so left and didn't even talk about those that remained, and another left and spoke the first day and never again appeared in the media," Perez said.

"I don't want that story to be repeated, I feel I have that duty," said the corporal, who plans to remain in the army but with the independence to study medicine.

He said he has changed "a great deal" in the 10 years since he was captured in a rebel ambush at the age of 22.

Speaking about what needs to be done to find a solution to the Colombian conflict, Perez said the number of FARC members has to be reduced to "the bare minimum" and, when they're no longer able to operate, sit them down to negotiate once the government's conditions have been met, adding that that strategy "is being carried out."