Word: colombia
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...capital, Bogota, shows the men looking weak and depressed. They have now been in captivity for five years - one of the longest hostage episodes in U.S. history. Yet few Americans know about it. President George W. Bush has mentioned the hostages publicly only once, when he visited Colombia last year. "It's amazing and discouraging to think that these three guys, former U.S. servicemen, could be left behind and forgotten this way," says Lynne Stansell, Keith's stepmother, of Bradenton, Fla. "The Bush Administration has all but ignored them...
...still stands in sharp contrast to the crusade that French President Nicolas Sarkozy is waging for the release of another FARC hostage, former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who has dual French-Colombian citizenship and has often been held alongside the Americans. Sarkozy has sent a humanitarian mission to Colombia to gain access to the ill and emaciated Betancourt, 46, who was abducted in 2002. She "is in danger of imminent death," Sarkozy warned in a French TV broadcast aired in Colombia. "You who lead the FARC, you have a rendezvous with history... Free Ingrid Betancourt." He has promised asylum...
Stansell, Howes and Gonsalves were monitoring the jungle as part of a U.S. aid project called Plan Colombia. Begun in 2000, the plan has cost more than $5 billion, making Colombia the fourth largest recipient of U.S. aid, after Iraq, Israel and Egypt. The plan is designed to combat both cocaine production and groups like the FARC that profit from the trade. Although Colombia has failed to stem cocaine production, the cash has at the very least helped rebuild Colombia's military, which in turn has knocked the FARC back on its heels. The rebels have seen their ranks...
...involved with the campaign to free the Americans, says, "The FARC seems engaged on this issue for the first time ever." Since the start of the year, the group has handed six hostages - including a Colombian congresswoman and a former vice-presidential candidate - over to Chavez. But Colombia now accuses Chavez of supporting the FARC financially. (He denies...
Amidst those muddled Andean politics, some suggest a better hope for the Americans may be sitting inside U.S. jails. In 2004 and 2005, Colombia extradited to the U.S. two FARC leaders, Ricardo Palmera, a.k.a. Simon Trinidad, and Omaira Rojas, a.k.a. Sonia. Sonia was convicted last year on drug charges and given 17 years in prison; Trinidad, convicted for conspiracy in the Americans' capture, was sentenced to 60 years in January. The FARC has made the pair's release a condition for the U.S. hostages' freedom. The U.S. has designated the FARC a terrorist group and can't negotiate with...