FARC you, say Howes, Stansell and Gonsalves

John Hinderaker posts the possibility that Nancy Pelosi was indirectly contacting the FARC for a hostages-for-terrorists swap. Hindreaker states,

If this report is correct, Nancy Pelosi was carrying on her own foreign policy in opposition to that of the United States, trying to work with the socialist Hugo Chavez and the Communist FARC terrorists to undermine America's ally, Colombia. In normal times, this would be unthinkable. Given the crazed state of today's Democratic party, I'm not so sure.

Considering that this information was found in the FARC computers and that Nancy has been known to carry out her own brand of Hermes scarf diplomacy, this is not mere speculation on John's (or Mary O'Grady's) part.

Colombian president Alvaro Uribe is well aware of Nancy's duplicity and has called her bluff at least once.

Complicit also with the FARC are many of the NGOs - so much so that the ">FARC didn't question that an NGO would facilitate the helicopter used by the Colombian army to carry out the rescue.

The spotlight rightly belongs to the former hostages. Flopping Aces has the video of Marc Gonsalves speaking at yesterday's press conference:


Gonsalves said,

"I have seen how even their own gorillas commit suicide in a desperate attempt to escape the slavery that the FARC had condemned them to.

The majority of the FARC forces are children and young adults. They come from extreme poverty and have very little or no education. Many of them can't even read. So they're usually tricked into joining the FARC and they're brainwashed into believing that their cause is a just cause."

Keith Stansell proposed marriage last May to his girlfriend while he was still a captive, through another hostage who was released earlier,

But in a hopeful twist to Colombia's bleak kidnapping saga, Stansell, 43, grasped on the recent release of a fellow hostage, Colombia's former lawmaker Luis Eladio Perez, to carry the marriage proposal to his girlfriend.

Medina met the lawmaker at an airport, amid a throng of well-wishers, soon after his release. She had approached him for any scrap of information about her hostage boyfriend.

Instead, Perez plucked a flower from a bouquet he was holding and handed it to her. He proposed on Stansell's behalf.

"The tears came out of me... and he hugged me," recalled Medina, 36, a petite brunette who lives in Bogota and met Stansell on the job, as an air hostess. "I was sleepwalking, with the rose."

She said yes.

Thomas Howes has reunited with his family

The Americans, including Marc Gonsalves and Keith Stansell, were taken hostage after their light aircraft crashed in the jungle on a counternarcotics operation. A fourth contractor, Tom Janis, was killed by the FARC shortly after the crash, the company said.

I believe Keith Stansell is the man in the video I translated who said to the reporter,

"Tell my family, my family, the whole world."

The FARC is still holding 700 innocent people hostage. Ingrid Betancourt is exhorting Uribe to "rectify [his] radical, extremist, vocabulary of hate." Undoubtedly suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, Betancourt would do well instead to insist that the FARC release all their hostages or suffer the consequences of their horrible crimes.

(special thanks to Larwyn and VCrisis)

IN TODAY'S PODCAST at 11AM Eastern
You can listen to the podcast Here.
Our guest Jon Perdue, director of Latin American studies programs of the Fund for American Studies, will talk about the hostage release and what it means for the region.

Chat opens at 10:45AM and the call-in number is 646 652-2639. Join us!



UPDATE, Wednesday July 9
Chávez, Seeking Colombia Role, Distances Himself From Rebels

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The Colombian hostage rescue edition of the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Welcome to the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean. If you would like your posts included, please email me: faustaw2 "at" gmail "dot" com.

The big news of the year so far is the rescue by the Colombian military of the FARC's four most valuable hostages: French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt, Americans Thomas Howes, Keith Stansell and Marc Gonsalves, and eleven Colombian officers and NCOs, including the courageous Lt. Malagon who remained unbroken after ten years of captivity.

ARGENTINA
Chavez tied to Argentine bribe scandal coverup

Bolivian president Evo Morales's administration is tottering, and so was he when getting off the plane in Tucuman: No red carpet for Evo at Argentina's Mercosur summit

Argentina's War on Farmers Raises Food Prices Around the World

BOLIVIA
¿Alguien entiende a la Democracia de Bolivia o de Evo Morales? La oposición gana la Prefectura de Chuquisaca.

UK Navy commandos seize huge cocaine shipment; among them, Prince William.

COLOMBIA
Chavez voodoo dolls on the streets of Colombia

Must-read insights: Reflections on 2 July’s rescue

From the Colombian government website: Uribe apoya idea de Chávez de construir ferrocarril colombo-venezolano Uribe supports Chavez's idea of a Colombian-Venezuelan railway, with one line through the eastern plains tying into Ecuador, and another line by the Caribbean.

Uribe's hostage triumph

And how do we thank Colombia?

Kouchner: France paid no ransom for Betancourt Ingrid's liberation seen from Bogota: "The whole room was cheering"

FARC's 'Human Rights' Friends

Since the late 1990s, the NGO practice of dragging the military into court on allegations of human rights violations has destroyed the careers of some of the country's finest officers, even though most of these men were found innocent after years of proceedings. "Judicial warfare" turned out to be especially effective because under legislation pushed by Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, "credible" charges against officers put at risk U.S. military aid unless the accused was removed. The NGOs knew that they only had to point fingers to get rid of an effective leader and demoralize the ranks. Given this history, it's not surprising that the FARC thought a helicopter from an NGO was perfectly natural.

With friends like this

Video:


Colombia Rescues the FARC’s Most Famous Hostage

Colombian Press on Betancourt Rescue

Is this truly a farewell to the revolution?

More on the hostage rescue
They're Home: Three American Hostages Rescued by Colombian Military

Rescued Americans feast on pizza, soda

COLOMBIA "ENTEBBE" LIBERATION DAY

Fallout from Colombian Hostage Rescue all Good

Israel Helped in FARC Hostage Rescue Operation

Now this is their kind of crisis

Planning for rescue included a seating chart

Video shows orderly hostage rescue become celebration

Foljder

Comment at Just One Minute on Uribe & human rights.

Some more stuff about the Colombian FARC hostage rescue.

MSNBC host: Was the Colombia hostage rescue a sham designed to benefit McCain?

Speaking of which, a few links John McCain's trip to Colombia (Sen McCain had already left for Mexico when the rescue took place, unlike what this blogger states):
McCain lauds Bogota's fight against drug trafficking
McCain to tour Colombian drug control efforts
McCain Heads Today for Colombia, Where Adviser Has Long Had Ties

CUBA
On this day in history

"Word of mouth"

ECUADOR
Ecuador indulta 1,200 "mulas" y traficantes de drogas. Ecuador pardons 1,200 "mules" and drug traffickers

Ecuador drops visa requirement

Ecuador buys planes, radar for border

Ecuador is Unstable Because the Current Regime is Corrupt

HAITI
The UN says Things Not All That Bad in Haiti. How bad do they want them to be?

JAMAICA
Sick transit: The murder of an anti-corruption campaigner

MEXICO
Markets for the poor in Mexico, with video:


McCain knits trade, security issues

PANAMA
Greenback Is a Reason to Rejoice in Panama

PARAGUAY
James Cason, Ambassador, Paraguay Singing Sensation


PUERTO RICO
Via Sam, Theo Spark

Pfc. Robert Camocho, of Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, Co. B., 2-6th Inf. Regt., scans a simulated IED lane while training at Camp Buehring, Kuwait. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Michael Schuch)

VENEZUELA
Hugo Chavez's Venezuela 'supplies half of Britain's cocaine'

Hugo Chávez's Jewish Problem

Socialist Cities. More at the Washington Post's Chávez's 'Socialist City' Rises
First of Several Grand Projects in Venezuela Reflects Leader's Monopoly on Big Decisions

Via Irish Spy, Testimony places Chávez in scandal
According to court documents, Carlos Kauffman told the FBI that lawyer Moisés Maionica assured him, 'President Chávez was involved' in Venezuela's `briefcase scandal.'

U.S. ties Caracas to Hezbollah aid
Freezes assets of envoy, businessman

Iran and Venezuela agree on cultural ties

Venezuela's Chavez Implicated in Argentine Scandal

Fears grow for Venezuelan banks

US imports less oil from Venezuela

When all the clowns in Venezuela want to run the circus

Chávez's Continental Strategy in Tatters

Army unrest grows over Chavez reforms Fotos del camion volteado en el desfile del 5 de Julio. I'm posting on this in today.

US ELECTION
Benign Neglect? by Alvaro Vargas Llosa
Parsing--but not quite praising--Obama's Latin America policies.

Eight Questions on Latin America for John McCain

McCain in Colombia: don't embody "Bush's third term" in Latin America

SOCIETY
You and your people


IN SPANISH
Jaime Bayly gives the best political commentary on his show. Here's what he had to say on the hostages, via Noticias 24:
Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Prior posts and roundups on the hostage rescue:
One side benefit of the Colombian hostage rescue: No Alo Presidente!
The Colombian hostage rescue: Aftermath
The Colombian hostage rescue video
"Hostage rescue is happy coincidence for McCain in Colombia..."
BREAKING NEWS: INGRID BETANCOURT RESCUED

Special thanks to Eneas, Larwyn, Maggie, Sam, and Siggy..

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One side benefit of the Colombian hostage rescue: No Alo Presidente!

Noticias 24 reports that Hugo's weekly 4-hours long TV program is "suspended until further notice", due to

Chavez's heavily-booked schedule this upcoming week.

Following the Colombian hostage rescue he probably doesn't have much to brag about.

As far as Hugo's schedule goes, the Venezuelan Minister of Communications mentioned that Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is scheduled to visit Venezuela on July 11 and the Petrocaribe summit's scheduled for July 12-13.

Chavez's situation in either visit will be vastly different from what anyone pictured four months ago. Now he's in a sweat, being the big loser in the hostage liberation.


Unless he can come up with a really good powerpoint presentation, he can kiss the Nobel Peace price good-bye. But don't count him out yet. At the current oil prices, he's still got the bucks to carry him through.

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The Colombian hostage rescue: Aftermath

UPDATED WITH VIDEO TRANSLATION
Please scroll down
Yesterday I stated that the hostage rescue by Colombia's military has changed the political landscape in South America. Last Wednesday Investor's Business Daily looked at some of the actors.

It's really early to explore the implications, but here are some of the more immediate:

1. Colombia has undermined the FARC to the point of having it on the run, killing its top leaders, and infiltrating its topmost ranks. At its height, the FARC controlled over 30% of Colombia's territory and terrorized the entire country. Colombia is about to end its decades-long civil war, and the good guys are winning.

While the really hard work is about to start - i.e., ending the stranglehold of the cocaine trade - the victory opens the possibility that that, too, can be attained.

2. The FARC started as the military wing of the pro-Moscow Colombian Communist Party and has remained aligned with Communists in Latin America, including Hugo Chavez.

(Please don't come telling me that Chavez is not a Communist. He declared himself a Communist on January 2007, as this laudatory article at the Guardian states,

"Socialism or death - I swear it," he said last week, and declared himself a communist.)

This is a blow to Communism in Latin America. To use Esteban Lijalad's words, "Today Che died".

3. Appeasement never works, and the only way to defeat terror is through relentless, calculated, strategic, effective force. This carries great implications not only for Colombia and Latin America, but also on the war on terror.

The BBC

The rescue has vindicated Mr Uribe's uncompromising position with respect to negotiating with the Farc and justified his refusal to make concessions in order to gain the release of hostages.

4. Hugo Chavez's dream of heading a Bolivarian empire in Latin America has been dealt a huge blow. The FARC, one of his key allies, is defeated. As Ingrid Betancourt herself said,

"agradezco los esfuerzos de Chavez, pero debe saber que los Colombianos elegimos a Uribe, no a las FARC".
(my translation:) "I appreciate Chavez's efforts, but he should learn that we Colombians elected Uribe, not the FARC."

5. Just as the bad guys get together - as Chavez supports the FARC, Hezbollah, and Iran - the good guys also get together for training and technology: The US has funded the Colombian government's efforts in its war against terror to the tune of $600 million/yr in security and antinarcotics aid (h/t Betsy), and Israel (h/t Atlas) provided training:

The Israeli consultation was focused mainly on intelligence issues, special operations and integration and coordination between different security elements. This was in order to prepare them for a coordinated and productive campaign within a short period of time.

6. However, it can not be emphasized enough that it was the Colombians themselves who actually planned, executed, and succeeded in a months-long operation, and who will continue to do the heavy lifting.

Clarification: To give you an idea of why point #6 is so very important, Simon Romero of the NYT summarizes the situation in one sentence:

The mission would require near perfect execution by a military that only a few years ago could rarely be trusted.

That is a hugely significant development, both in the symbolic sense, and in the strategic implications. It marks a new stage in the history of Latin America.

UPDATE
As to the rumors circulated by Swiss public radio and their unnamed sources, clearly the Swiss should stick to reporting on cuckoo clocks. Daniel casts a jaundinced eye on the Swiss.

UPDATE 2: Translation of Operation Check: Images from Ingrid Betancourt's rescue
Macker sent this video of the rescue, asking that I translate it:


Translation: Please credit me if you use this translation. Thank you.

Operation Check (as in chess): Images from Ingrid Betancourt's rescue
13:23:00 [Voice off camera] "...from this side... hold...hold...backlighting...backlighting..."

13:24:00 [Reporter, now in front of camera, approaching man in long-sleeve t-shirt] "Commander, may I ask you only one question?"
[FARC commander] "No, no, there's a rule and I'd be violating a rule."
[Reporter] "Allow me, only one question. Only one question, yes?"
[FARC commander] "Ask me in the helicopter." (chuckles)
[Reporter] "But it'll be too noisy. Let me ask you a question, so it shows."
[FARC commander] "No, it is..."
[Reporter] "Real easy one, Commander."
[FARC commander] "It's against the rules."
[Reporter] "Commander, one question, please."
[FARC commander, laughing] "No, it'd really be a mistake for me to give a..."

Video cuts him off.

Camera zooms to the hostages: man wearing black t-shirt, Ingrid Betancourt wearing hat, tall man in sleeveless t-shirt & baseball cap.

[Reporter, again off camera, while the tall man's hands are tied] "...of prisoners at the hands of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces [i.e., the FARC]. the people's army. We'll have the chance to talk with the three Americans being held by the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces. On politics, we can't talk about politics. Get closer [to the tall man], get closer."

13:27:30 [Tall man, getting closer to the camera] "Tell my family, my family, the whole world." [gets taken away]
[Reporter] "On politics, we can't broadcast, we can't have the group of prisoners at the hands of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces, we can't..."

13:27:45 [Hostage with mustache, approaching reporter] "Yes, excuse me. I only have one thing to say: I have been chained for ten years. I am Lieutenant Malagon, of the glorious Colombian National Army, [voice breaks] kidnapped for many reasons by this guerilla."

13:28:01 [Reporter] "Words by Lieutenant Malagon. We can't broadcast them directly, we can't quote them but we know the suffering."
[Lt. Malagon] "They should be broadcast, because I have something very important to state...."

Gets cut off.

13:28:29 [Walking to helicopter]

13:29:11 [Lt. Malagon says something, voice drowned by helicopter noise.]

13:29:12 [Reporter] "We understand, but the restrictions, the press is restricted, it's not allowed."

13:29:31-13:31:49 [Sound off]

Once in the helicopter, Betancourt crying, hostages laughing, hugging, thumbs up. Betancourt & other hostage holding each other. Helicopter noise, unintelligible voices.

[Man's voice] "My God, man, thanks."
[Betancourt] "Let's give thanks for this moment."
[Man] "Who do you give thanks to, mother?"

Betancourt shakes her head.

[Man] "I always expected this, always. Ten years waiting! Ten years expecting it!"

Sound gets cut off.
13:38:45 Video ends.

Welcome, Power Line, American Power, Dr Melissa Clouthier, Conservative Syndicate, Irish Spy and Belmont Club readers!

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