• by Constanza Vieira* (bogota)
• Thursday, January 08, 2009
• Inter Press Service

Nearly three weeks after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) announced that they would release six hostages, the government of right-wing President Álvaro Uribe has agreed to provide security guarantees for the operation, which is expected to take place this month.

'The national government reiterates its confidence in the International Committee of the Red Cross (to facilitate the operation), and will continue providing all necessary guarantees for the release of hostages announced by the FARC,' said a statement issued Wednesday.

The government also authorised opposition Senator Piedad Córdoba to form part of the mission.

In response to a September open letter backed by 25,000 signatures and addressed to the FARC by Córdoba and 150 intellectuals and journalists, calling for a public dialogue and asking the rebels if they would abandon the practice of kidnapping, the insurgent group announced Dec. 21 that it would unilaterally release six civilian and military and police hostages.

The senator described a meeting Wednesday with the government’s High Commissioner for Peace Luis Carlos Restrepo as 'very positive.'

'Piedad framed the situation as the start of a long process that could be the first step towards the construction of an eventual peace process' in Colombia’s nearly five-decade civil war, said Alpher Rojas, the director of the Institute for Sociopolitical Studies and Research (INESTCO), who helped organise the open letter and signature campaign, known as the Diálogo Público Epistolar (Epistolary Public Dialogue).

'That opened the door for them to say ‘yes’ to everything she proposed' in the meeting with Restrepo, the analyst told IPS.

On Tuesday, Uribe called the efforts being made through the Diálogo Público Epistolar 'a new ruse,' and reiterated his staunch opposition to the possibility of an exchange of hostages held by the FARC for imprisoned guerrillas.

Rojas said the government position shifted because 'it finally understood that the indecision regarding this case could not continue.'

In a letter dated Dec. 30 and published Wednesday, the FARC stated that the hostages would be handed over to Senator Córdoba and one or more of the public figures who signed the open letter to launch the public dialogue, which has now become a movement named 'Colombians for Peace'.

The condition outlined by the guerrillas in their letter, that 'some democratic personality from a brother country or the international community' must monitor the hostage release operation, is not an obstacle, said Rojas.

Although the participation of an international figure 'has not completely been ruled out, it is no longer a point of contention between the two sides,' he said.

In the week or so since the FARC produced its letter, 'other things have helped ensure that it won’t be a hurdle,' he added, declining to provide further details.

'In negotiations on guarantees (for a hostage release), it is not possible to set forth just one single proposal,' said Rojas. 'After other points of view were accepted, other alternatives emerged on the menu of options for monitors and guarantees. No one proposed just one single option.'

The Red Cross said it was pleased that it had been entrusted with the design and logistics of the hostage release operation.

But Córdoba told Restrepo that once she is given the coordinates for the location where the hostages are to be delivered, she will only communicate them to the pilot once they are 'in the air,' on the way to the secret spot in the jungle.

According to the FARC, the hostages to be released are civilians Alan Jara and Sigifredo López and four members of the police and military whose names were not given.

Jara, a former governor of the central department (province) of Meta, was kidnapped by the FARC on Jul. 15, 2001, when he was seized at gunpoint from a United Nations vehicle during a U.N. mission.

López is the only survivor of a group of 12 regional lawmakers seized by the FARC from the regional legislature in the western department of Valle del Cauca on Apr. 11, 2002. The other 11 were killed in unclarified circumstances during a shootout on Jun. 18, 2007, as they were being transferred by boat by the FARC. (López was not with them).

Jara and López are the only civilian hostages still held by the guerrillas, who kidnapped them and the others with the aim of negotiating a humanitarian swap of hostages for imprisoned insurgents.

After the six are released, the rebels will still hold 22 members of the military and police.

The number of guerrillas in prison is unknown, because the authorities often seize peasant farmers who live in rural areas under FARC control and jail them as insurgents.

FARC commander Alfonso Cano said in an interview with the Spanish magazine Cambio 16, which was published Wednesday on the rebel group’s web site, that a hostage-prisoner swap would help create an atmosphere that could 'pave the way for a peace agreement.'

The guerrillas said the hostages would be released in two groups, starting with three low-ranking police officers and one rank-and-file soldier.

According to a list released by the FARC on Aug. 21, the only hostages fitting that description are soldier William Domínguez and policemen Juan Fernando Galicio, José Walter Lozano and Alexis Torres.

With respect to the three police officers, the FARC commented at the time that 'the government has not informed the public (of their kidnapping) and has made no demand for their release, because as poor men, they are of little propaganda value for the government.'

Fifteen hostages were rescued in a stunning bloodless Jul. 2 military intelligence operation. The hostages included former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three U.S. defence contractors captured while working for the U.S.-financed counterinsurgency and anti-drug Plan Colombia.

The rescue operation drew criticism because one of the members of the military intelligence team used the Red Cross symbol, while the helicopters carried a fictitious logo with the words 'International Humanitarian Mission' as well as the 'no weapons' symbol -- an automatic rifle in a red circle with a bar through the middle -- used by all such missions.

The team successfully posed as an international humanitarian mission, inspired by earlier unilateral release operations negotiated by Córdoba and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in early 2008.

Because of that, the FARC said in their letter dated Dec. 30 that Red Cross participation in the hostage release is 'a good but insufficient guarantee.'

The guerrillas did not insist on the involvement of foreign governments, which has been vehemently opposed by Uribe since the diplomatic row with Venezuela triggered by the Colombian president’s abrupt decision to cut off Chávez and Córdoba’s role in negotiating a prisoner-hostage exchange.

The FARC also kidnap wealthy people for ransom, as a source of financing.

In response to the September open letter by 'Colombians for Peace', the rebel group said 'the indefinite use of these methods does not form part of our ideals or principles.'

For the first time, massive street demonstrations against kidnapping were held in Colombian cities last year, which disconcerted the guerrillas, according to hostages released in early 2008.

The non-governmental organisation País Libre, which bases its estimates on Defence Ministry statistics, found that the FARC guerrillas were responsible for nearly 30 percent of kidnappings in Colombia, one of the world leaders in that practice.

From 1996 to June 2008, a total of 15,331 people were kidnapped for ransom in Colombia, according to País Libre.

*Constanza Vieira is one of the signatories of the Diálogo Público Epistolar letter.

© Inter Press Service (2009) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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