Dashed hopes in Colombia hostage drama

By Jeremy McDermott
BBC News, Medellin

Clara Rojas is believed to have given birth in captivity in 2004

There was another flash of hope for the hostages in the hands of Colombian guerrillas, but it soon evaporated, leaving them likely condemned to more months, if not years, in rebel captivity.

The promised release of three, Clara Rojas, her son Emmanuel and former congresswoman Consuelo Gonzalez, did not materialise with the rebels and the government blaming each other for preventing the liberation.

The only concrete result of the whole episode is that the freedom of the hostages in guerrilla hands is as far off as ever.

"The Farc continue to play with the lives of the hostages and their families," said Beatriz Romero, 36, a teacher in the city of Medellin.

"I believe that most of those poor people will die in guerrilla hands, far from home."

The Venezuelan-led mission was suspended on Monday

The aborted release also left President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela in a difficult position as the Farc had promised to deliver the hostages to him.

He had set up a public relations spectacle with international observers forming part of a mission that headed to Colombia, only to have everyone head home without success.

"There are two big losers in this process," said Roman Ortiz, a security analyst in Bogota.

"The first are the Farc who made a promise they did not keep and secondly President Chavez who tried to set himself up as a regional power broker with influence over the Colombian rebels, only to finish up empty handed."

Pressure

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) have been seizing hostages for the last 10 years.

HISTORY OF HOSTAGE-TAKING Dec 1997: First of those still in captivity seized Feb 2002: Clara Rojas kidnapped along with French-Colombian Ingrid Betancourt Feb 2003: Three US defence contractors seized after plane crash lands in rebel territory Jun 2007: Farc say 11 hostages die in friendly fire incident Sep: Red Cross recovers bodies. Authorities say hostages killed at close range 7 Dec: Mr Uribe says he will agree to demilitarised zone to allow talks on a prisoner exchange. But rebels unable to accept conditions 18 Dec: Farc announce they will release Clara Rojas, her son, and Consuelo Gonzalez 31 Dec: Farc say they cannot free them as army operations continuing. Mr Uribe says the Farc are lying, suggests boy not in their hands and could be in a Bogota foster home

Their plan is to exchange the hostages for hundreds of their comrades in prison.

The issue of the prisoner exchange is known to be close the heart of Farc founder and leader Manuel Marulanda, alias Sureshot, who is now in his 70s.

It was Marulanda who built the rebel force from a handful of cousins and friends into the 12,000-strong force of today.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has always been adamantly opposed to a prisoner exchange, insisting it would simply encourage the guerrillas to kidnap more and undermine the morale of the security forces that sacrifice so many lives to fight and capture the Farc.

However, Mr Uribe has been under pressure from all sides to negotiate. First there has been the pressure from non-governmental organisations and the families of the hostages.

More recently there has been intensified international pressure from President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, who has made the release of the French-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt a foreign policy priority.

It has been a long and anxious wait for all the hostages' relatives

Washington, which backs the Colombian government to the tune of more than $600m (£300m) a year, also has a stake in the prisoner exchange as the Farc are holding three US intelligence operatives, whose plane crashed landed in the rebel-dominated province of Caqueta in February 2003.

While the US government insists it does not negotiate with people it regards as terrorists, three US congressmen have written to the Farc on the issue.

A glimpse into the daily lives of the hostages was given in May this year when policeman Jhon Pinchao, held hostage for nine years by the Farc, escaped his captors.

He recounted a life constantly on the move through the jungle, with very basic food, and being chained to trees to prevent escape.

For those still in captivity this is likely to be their life until 2010 at the earliest, when a new president takes over in Colombia, perhaps opening the way for another approach to dealing with the rebels and the hostage issue.