Four Colombians, ex-hostages of the FARC guerrilla movement, will arrive in France this Saturday to study the French language. According to colleagues of Ingrid Betancourt who was liberated in July 2008, this will take place in accordance with the terms of a promise made by France following Ingrid’s liberation.

When asked, the French Ministry of Justice confirmed the ‘imminent arrival’ in France of four ex-hostages, where they will undertake an intensive language course for two months overseen by the Ministry for External Relations.

John Pinchao who escaped from the guerrilla in 2007, José Miguel Arteaga, Amaón Florez and Raimundo Malagon, all of whom were freed with Ingrid Betancourt in July 2008, will arrive from Bogota this Saturday at the Parisian airport of Roissy. This is according to a press release issued by the Ingrid Betancourt Foundation. The four men ‘will benefit from education which aims to facilitate their reintegration into professional life’, the statement continues.

Ingrid Betancourt, an ex-presidential candidate in Colombian elections, was freed on July 2nd 2008 with fourteen other hostages in an operation undertaken by Colombian special forces and conducted with US support. France, which had long been pursuing a negotiated political solution between the guerrilla and the Colombian government, is now lending its support to ex-hostages and ex-guerrilla members who have escaped along with their prisoners.

Ingrid Betancourt returned to Paris on December 10th with the first FARC deserter, Wilson Bon, alias ‘Isaza’ who had escaped with the former hostage Oscar Tulio Lizcano on October 26th 2008.