Colombian troops rescue two police officials from FARC captivity

BOGOTA, Colombia
— Colombian soldiers have freed one of the highest-ranking and one of
the longest-held members of the nation’s security forces from rebel
captivity, President Alvaro Uribe announced Sunday.

Police Brig. Gen. Luis Herlindo Mendieta and Col. Enrique Murillo were freed in a military operation in Guaviare state, in the country’s
southeast, Uribe said at a community meeting in Choco state in the
northwest. Details of the operation were not immediately available.

Mendieta and Murillo, both in rebel hands since November 1998,
were two of 21 police and army officers believed to be held hostage by
the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, as “exchangeables”
for the release of rebel prisoners or other concessions. The insurgents
are also thought to be holding hundreds of civilians.

“I’m the happiest woman on Earth,” the general’s wife, Maria Teresa Mendieta, told reporters outside her home in north Bogota on Sunday. “I’ve been waiting a long time for this. Thanks to all Colombians for their solidarity.”

It was unclear Sunday afternoon whether the rescue
was similar to the daring 2008 raid in which 11 military hostages were
freed by commandos posing as humanitarian workers. Three U.S. defense
contractors and former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt were also freed in that raid.

Uribe told his audience in the state capital,
Quibdo, that the rescue was the climax of an operation that took
several months to organize and cost the life of a sergeant, whom he did
not identify. Also on Sunday, he announced the rescue of three road
engineers who had been kidnapped June 2 while working on a project to connect Choco with Risaralda state. He gave no details about the rescue.

FARC hostages, some in captivity since 1997, lead
miserable existences and are forced to march from jungle campsite to
another and sometimes spend nights bound in chains.

Murillo’s family told television reporters Sunday
that the two officers had been freed early in the morning and were
being taken to Bogota. Murillo’s 11-year old son, Sebastian, who was born after his capture, said he had “many things” to tell him.

“Now I can die in peace knowing my son has been released,” said the colonel’s father, Luis Henrique Murillo.

Since Uribe took office in 2002, he has refused to
accept rebel conditions for exchanges. The score or so who have been
freed either escaped, were rescued by the armed forces or released by
the rebels on “humanitarian” grounds.

Mendieta, then a colonel, was the ranking officer at
a police base in Mitu, capital of the far eastern state of Vaupes, when
FARC rebels overran it in November 1998. All 120 police
were killed or captured by a rebel force then estimated at 1,800.
Mendieta was promoted to general last year in captivity.

In March, the FARC released two army soldiers, Pablo Emilio Moncayo and Josue Daniel Calvo, to Sen. Piedad Cordoba, a leftist lawmaker and friend of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Rebels then said there would be no further releases and called upon Uribe to negotiate a peace deal.

Colombians will vote next Sunday to select Uribe’s successor. Polls heavily favor former Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos, who is expected to continue Uribe’s policies toward the rebels. His main opponent is former Bogota Mayor Antanas Mockus.

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