The mother of Ingrid Betancourt, the former presidential candidate in Colombia considers a military rescue would endanger the life of the hostages and asks President Alvaro Uribe to seek a humanitarian agreement with FARC.

Yolanda Pulecio, mother of Ingrid Betancourt who is still held by FARC rebels since 2002, has rejected a military option to rescue her daughter, which is being proposed by the government of Colombian president Alvaro Uribe.

“No way. We are not authorising a military operation to rescue Ingrid”. Yolanda Pulecio stated. She added that the return of the former Minister for Development, Fernando Araújo “was a miracle because they (FARC) were unable to kill him”.

This is not the first time the mother of the former presidential candidate has opposed a military rescue but she insists once again after the Minister of Defence, Juan Manuel Santos had indicated that he was considering a military rescue operation of hostages still held by FARC, some hours after former Minister Araujo had escaped the camp where he was being held after 6 years in captivity.

Yolanda Pulecio has maintained that military rescue operations endanger the lives of hostages. She has asked Uribe to support a humanitarian agreement with rebel groups in order to establish the exchange of political and military hostages for rebels held in prison.

Fernando Araújo, controversial hostage

The adventure of the former minister who escaped from his kidnappers during a military raid has relaunched the debate between those in favour of a robust intervention and those who support talks to free hostages held by FARC.

“Despite the risks associated with such operations the freeing of the former minister shows that the military option is a possible way to rescue hostages “. That is the conclusion drawn by Cambio following the escape by Fernando Araujo, minister in President Pastrana’s government and held by FARC since 4 December 2000.

The Colombian weekly paper outlines details of the unlikely escape provided by the escapee. “When I realised that the helicopters flying over the camp were going to attack, I took advantage of the confusion among my jailers, who were preparing to attack, to flee “. El Espectator provides other details “The rebels had said they would kill me rather than let me be rescued. So when I saw our soldiers, I thought ‘you escape or you die; it was a case of life or death. And I ran towards the jungle”.

The former minister was unable to say whether the death of one Colombian soldier and six rebels had ended the fight, notes the Cambio newspaper. “ For the next few days I hid. I moved at night and hid during the day; I ate yucca… on Friday when I woke I decided to leave the jungle to try to contact some Colombian soldiers”. This happened on Friday 5 January.

Araujo’s lifesaving escape which has impressed the entire country puts the spotlight on the absence of a clear choice between military action and negotiations”, says Rodrigo Puyo Vasco in El Colombiano. “This particular case lends weight to a military option, even if there are arguments against such a plan, some perfectly understandable like those of the families of the hostages who fear for the lives of their loved ones, other views are more controversial coming from those opposed to the government, to the system or from sympathisers of subversive elements…”

If the columnist dwells on the reluctance of the families, it is because several similar operations, such as the one aimed at freeing Araújo, failed leading to the “death of the prisoners. One State governor and a former Defence Minister were killed”, recalls Cambio. This paper reveals that in the case of the rescue on 31 December, “the family had been consulted and had agreed. The operation had been prepared with great care based on information given to the army by a FARC deserter.

Minister of Defence, Juan Manuel Santos took care to state that if the government follows the policy constantly put forward by Uribe, that of the military option, “it will not always be possible to consult families prior to such action” according to El Colombiano. This newspaper also quotes the Commander in Chief of the Colombian army, Freddy Padilla de Leyn, who maintains the number of those rescued support the government’s case; “ In the last two years armed intervention freed 441 hostages and arrested 477 kidnappers. “ The paper adds that according to the Free Country Foundation (Foundation Pays Libre), 3177 have been kidnapped between 1999 and 2006”.

In El Espectador, Fernando Araújo appeals also for a reasonable use of armed intervention: “My rescue was a success. I have every confidence in the Colombian army. However a humanitarian agreement, under terms proposed by the government of Alvaro Uribe, of course, is one solution that is less risky for the hostages.”

That is also the conclusion reached by El Tiempo regarding the incident. The former hostage “has offered two opinions which deserve consideration. Firstly Colombian Army has forced the rebels to constantly be on the move and alert. But negotiations should not be abandoned, stated Araújo, who had words of support for the thousands held by FARC.”

In El Colombiano, Rodrigo Puyo Vasco points the way forward. “ The involvement of a third party, in this case a country ready to act as a mediator, would be a first step, because the repeated failure of peace talks and humanitarian agreements does not leave a lot of hope. Indeed, the holding of hostages as human shields to protect rebels is in danger of being no longer sufficient excuse for preventing the military to act to restore the legally constituted state and the power of all institutions throughout the country.”