Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia

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1M-Plus March for Colombian Hostages

Cities across the globe show support for captives

(Newser) - More than a million people marched in Bogota, Columbia and other world capitals today demanding the freedom of captives held hostage by leftist rebels in the Columbian jungle, AFP reports. Recently liberated captive Ingrid Betancourt led chants of "No More hostages" in Paris on Columbia's independence day, as famous...

Freed US Hostages Bare Brutal Life With 'Animals'

Captives chained by the neck

(Newser) - Three freed American hostages who spent more than five years as captives of Colombian guerrillas paint a harrowing picture of their treatment in a CNN interview. Keith Stansell, Marc Gonsalves and Thomas Howes, rescued last week, spent much of their time in captivity chained by the neck, and were subjected...

FARC Will Punish Remaining Captives: Ex-Hostage

US contractors rescued from Colombian rebels speak to press

(Newser) - Speaking to the media for the first time since his rescue Wednesday, a former FARC captive warned that remaining hostages would face retribution over the escape, CNN reports. “Right now, they're being punished because we got rescued,” said US government contractor Marc Gonsalves. They’ll be made to...

Rebel Bomb Revenge Plot Foiled in Colombia

Explosives planned for Bogota: authorities

(Newser) - The Colombian army seized nearly a ton of explosives near Bogota, foiling a bomb plot by the rebel group known as FARC, according to authorities. Military officials suspect a series of bomb attacks were planned across the capital in the next few days in retaliation for the recent high-profile rescue...

Betancourt Arrives in Paris
 Betancourt Arrives in Paris 
Jul 4, 2008 11:08 AM CDT

Betancourt Arrives in Paris

Sarkozy welcomes freed hostage home

(Newser) - Ingrid Betancourt returned to France today after 6 years in captivity in Colombia, CNN reports. "I have been dreaming for 7 years for this moment," the French-Colombian politician said at Villacoublay airport outside Paris. "I owe everything to France. You all shared my despair, my family's despair....

Freed Hostages Back in US
 Freed Hostages Back in US 
UPDATED
Jul 3, 2008 10:48 AM CDT

Freed Hostages Back in US

Contractors flown to medical centers for tests, reunions

(Newser) - Three American hostages are back on US soil today for the first time in five years, CNN reports, after a late-night landing at an Air Force base in San Antonio, Texas. The men were taken to an Army medical center, where, after undergoing tests and debriefings, they are expected to...

Sun Setting on FARC Rebellion
 Sun Setting on FARC Rebellion 
ANALYSIS
May 29, 2008 10:14 PM CDT

Sun Setting on FARC Rebellion

Key link to past now dead, and Colombia's efforts at last paying off against rebels

(Newser) - FARC chief Manuel Marulanda’s death might not be a fatal blow to Colombia's Marxist rebels, but the Economist sees an organization on the way out anyway. In its mid-'90s heyday, FARC boasted a force of 19,000 soldiers that threatened Bogota, the capital; today, the group is fragmented, with...

Colombian Rebel Leader Rumored Dead
Colombian Rebel Leader Rumored Dead
May 24, 2008 5:48 PM CDT

Colombian Rebel Leader Rumored Dead

'Sure Shot' founded Marxist FARC more than 40 years ago

(Newser) - Columbian rebel leader Manuel Marulanda Velez is dead, according to an interview with an official in a weekly magazine, AFP reports. The elusive FARC leader, known as “Sure Shot,” helped start the Marxist rebel group in the 1960s to battle Colombia's conservative government. He was rumored to have...

Sarko: Betancourt Near Death
 Sarko: Betancourt Near Death 
Apr 1, 2008 3:20 PM CDT

Sarko: Betancourt Near Death

French president renews call for FARC ro release hostage

(Newser) - Nicolas Sarkozy today reiterated his call for FARC to free hostage Ingrid Betancourt, saying the Colombian-French politician is "in danger of imminent death," Reuters reports. After 6 years in the rebel guerrillas' custody, Betancourt reportedly began a hunger strike Feb. 23. "Free Ingrid Betancourt and the weakest...

Colombia Offers Swap: Hostages for Prisoners

FARC must release ailing Betancourt for deal to go through

(Newser) - After more than 6 years in captivity, Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt will go free if FARC agrees to a deal Alvaro Uribe signed off on last night, the Guardian reports. The Colombian president issued a decree saying the country will release imprisoned rebel fighters in exchange for Betancourt, a onetime...

'Merchant of Death' Denies Arms Charges

Viktor Bout, nabbed in Thailand, says he was just on vacation

(Newser) - Viktor Bout, the international arms dealer caught last week in a US sting operation in Thailand, told police he was vacationing when authorities nabbed him for trying to sell weapons to Colombian rebels, Reuters reports. Bout, nicknamed the "Merchant of Death" for business dealings with groups like the Taliban,...

Venezuela Adds Firepower on Colombian Border

Tanks, aircraft deployed as standoff escalates

(Newser) - Venezuela deployed tanks to the Colombian border, Reuters reports, as Latin American tensions remained high enough that Hugo Chavez warned of an Andean war. Though Colombia refused to send reinforcements to its border, the mobilization of heavy artillery, including support from air and sea forces, is the first in the...

Ecuador Wants Apology on FARC; US Backs Bogota

Bush to Colombia: We're with you

(Newser) - Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, is in Brazil today, pushing for an apology from Colombia for its incursion into Ecuador to attack FARC guerrillas Saturday. While most Latin American nations, including Brazil, have condemned the cross-border attack, the White House yesterday unequivocally backed Colombia in the rapidly escalating crisis. Correa heads...

FARC Hostage Near Death in Jungle
FARC Hostage Near Death
in Jungle
Feb 28, 2008 8:21 PM CST

FARC Hostage Near Death in Jungle

Former presidential candidate gravely ill, says released captive

(Newser) - A high-profile hostage still held by Colombian rebels is near death because of mistreatment and a lack of medicine, a former fellow captive said today. Ingrid Betancourt, seized by FARC rebels six years ago while campaigning for the presidency, is sick with hepatitis and liver problems, says Luis Eladio Perez,...

FARC Rebels Free 4 Hostages
FARC Rebels Free 4 Hostages
Feb 27, 2008 2:56 PM CST

FARC Rebels Free 4 Hostages

Prisoners were politicians, who had been held for more than 6 years

(Newser) - Colombian FARC rebels today set free four former Colombian legislators who had been held hostage for more than six years. The deal was brokered by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, and three of the four will fly to Caracas to speak with him. The fourth is in poor health and may...

Thousands Protest Colombia Rebels
Thousands Protest Colombia Rebels
Feb 5, 2008 3:19 AM CST

Thousands Protest Colombia Rebels

Movement harnesses Facebook in mass rally

(Newser) - In a mammoth Facebook-inspired protest, as many as 2 million demonstrators flooded the streets of Bogota yesterday, and thousands more marched in other parts of Colombia and nearly 100 cities worldwide as people called for an end to Colombia's guerrilla group FARC. "No more kidnapping, no more lies, no...

Colombian Hostage Reunited With Son
Colombian Hostage Reunited
With Son
Jan 14, 2008 4:50 AM CST

Colombian Hostage Reunited With Son

Rojas meets child rebels took from her

(Newser) - A Colombian woman held captive for nearly six years by rebels was reunited yesterday with the son she had as a hostage. Clara Rojas' baby, Emmanuel, fathered by one of the rebels, was taken from her when he was just eight months old, suffering from a broken arm and a...

Colombian Hostages Joyfully Return to Families
Colombian Hostages
Joyfully Return to Families
UPDATED
Jan 10, 2008 9:25 PM CST

Colombian Hostages Joyfully Return to Families

Chavez receives pair at presidential palace

(Newser) - Two freed hostages are back with their families tonight after years of captivity in the Colombian jungle, CNN reports. "We are being reborn!" said Clara Rojas as she was reunited with her elderly mother in Venezuela. "This is like living again," said her fellow former hostage,...

Director Rips Bush in Colombia Hostage Drama

Rescue undermined by US, says Stone

(Newser) - Maverick Hollywood director Oliver Stone had a front-row seat on the scene of the failed hostage rescue mission in Colombia last month—and has returned blaming that nation's government and President Bush. "Shame on Bush,” Stone told the Guardian. Colombian rebels reneged on a deal to free two...

Rebels Admit They Don't Have Hostage Boy

Farc captive to have been freed in deal was in Bogota foster home

(Newser) - Rebels in Colombia have acknowledged that the 3-year-old boy in foster care in Bogota is Emmanuel, the son of one of the hostages they are holding and the focus of a much-publicized release that fell through last week. Farc rebels had announced the release of Emmanuel, his mother Clara Rojas,...

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