Currently, the FARC wishes to hand over 45 politicians, soldiers, police officers, and U.S. government contractors in exchange for 500 imprisoned guerrillas. To accomplish this exchange of prisoners, the FARC also insists upon the complete withdrawal of government armed forces from two municipalities in the Valle del Cauca region. The Colombian government vehemently rejects this demand recalling the failure of previous efforts to create a demilitarized “meeting zone” that resulted in vast territories being taken over and controlled by guerrillas.
Today, Foreign Minister Fernando Araújo announced that he opposes negotiating a humanitarian accord with the FARC because doing so would be equivalent to giving in to the guerrillas. “I do not support it. The overall interests of the government are more important than those of individuals. The only way to be victorious over the use of kidnapping is to demand that the guerrillas free the hostages without any strings attached.”
Prior to assuming the position of Foreign Minister, Araújo had been held as a prisoner of the FARC for six years. Throughout that period, he claims that he was never in favor of a humanitarian accord and that he has the notes written in his diary to prove it.The FARC held Araújo captive from 2000 until December 31, 2006 when he was finally able to escape from his captors. And this past March he was assigned the post of Foreign Minister.
Included among the captives held by the FARC and considered part of the controversial humanitarian accord are three U.S. citizens, Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes, and Keith Stansell. In 2003, these three men were allegedly conducting drug surveillance in Colombia for the U.S. Department of Defense when their single-engine plane crashed in a remote, mountainous region of southern Colombia.
Photograph courtesy of El Universal / El País
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