Videos Show U.S. Hostages In Colombia

3 Defense Contractors Missing Since 2003, Colombian Presidential Candidate Seen Alive

(CBS/AP)  Colombian officials on Friday revealed recently-seized videotapes of rebel-held hostages, among them three U.S. defense contractors and a former presidential candidate - the first images in years providing evidence the captives may be alive.

High Commissioner for Peace Luis Carlos Restrepo said the tapes were confiscated after the arrest Thursday evening of three suspected urban members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, better known as the FARC.

The government said it had also recovered a series of letters apparently written by the hostages, including what appeared to be the will of U.S. contractor Thomas Howes.

The findings come days after the FARC were severely criticized for failing to provide so-called "proof of life" during the recent mediation by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, who demanded such evidence from the guerrillas.

The videotapes, which were played at a news conference without sound, showed an extremely gaunt Ingrid Betancourt, the French-Colombian politician, apparently chained and in front of a jungle backdrop.

The Americans - Howes, Keith Stansell and Marc Gonsalves - were abducted by the FARC after their plane went down in Southern Colombia in 2003.

In the images, each American briefly stood alone on the screen, also against a jungle backdrop, looking haggard. The rebels had not released any images of them since 2003. The U.S. embassy in Bogota has called the three Americans the longest-held U.S. hostages currently in captivity.

Betancourt, who was kidnapped as she campaigned for the Colombian presidency in 2002, has long hair and stares blankly at the ground in the video. No images of her have been seen since 2003.

"The proof of life of Ingrid Betancourt obtained by the Colombian authorities is big news: it is the first proof of life for more than four years," said David Martinon, a spokesman for French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Restrepo said that the tapes carried the date for Betancourt of Oct. 24, 2007. The tape of the Americans carried the date of the Jan. 1, 2007. But a kidnapped Colombia soldier, who appeared on the same tape, said the recording was being made on Oct. 23.

"Everything seems to point to the proof of life being from the last days of October of this year," said Restrepo.

The FARC, which uses kidnapping as a tool to raise money and pressure the government, are offering to release these and other hostages in exchange for the freeing of hundreds of rebels from Colombian and U.S. prisons. Some hostages have endured a decade in FARC captivity.

Chavez, the Venezuelan leader, is well respected within the FARC and had been involved in trying to mediate a deal between the government and the rebels until last week when President Alvaro Uribe ended his role, saying Chavez had disobeyed a direct order in contacting the head of Colombia's army.

In justifying its decision to end Chavez's role as mediator, the Colombian government said the FARC had failed to respond to the Venezuelan president's entreaties to give evidence the hostages were still alive.

Restrepo said the five tapes also showed images of another 12 Colombians, mainly members of the security forces.

Among the other evidence recovered by the army were a series of letters apparently written by the hostages, Restrepo said.

One undated letter was from Howes to his wife, and another, dated Nov. 26, 2006, was his will, said the government. Another note was from Gonsalves to the military commander of the FARC, known as "Mono Jojoy", dated Oct. 23, 2007, and Betancourt wrote a letter to her mother, dated Oct. 24 2007. The government did not reveal details of the documents.

Chavez's dismissal from the process has led to a diplomatic spat between the two countries, with the Venezuelan leader announcing Wednesday he would have "no type of relationship" with the Colombian government as long as Uribe was president.

Families of the kidnapped have demanded that Uribe, whose father was killed by the FARC, invite Chavez back in to the process, saying that his involvement was the best hope in years of freeing their loved ones.

Uribe has advocated military rescues of the kidnapped, something opposed by all the families of the abducted, who fear the hostages will be killed in crossfire. Since taking office in 2002, Uribe's administration has had no face to face meetings with the rebels.

[feelfree1]

Contractors? They look like mercenaries to me. If so, the FARC did us all a great service by getting these rent-a-terrorists off the streeets.

[gore53]

Hey FeelFree1, if you did more than look at the picture and pronounce judgment you''d have noticed the hostages, including Ms. Betancourt, former Colombian presidential candidate, were all described as looking haggard. Would not you, faced with their predicament. Try to have some compassion, jackass.

[mmaza]

Contractors? They aren''t building houses.Call them what they are mercenaries. They all went to Colombia to fight for money.This was a chance they were willing to take, getting caught. I hope the money was worth it.

[mcvet]

Hey FeelFree1, if you did more than look at the picture and pronounce judgment you''''d have noticed the hostages, including Ms. Betancourt, former Colombian presidential candidate, were all described as looking haggard. Would not you, faced with their predicament. Try to have some compassion, jackass.


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Posted by gore53 at 04:16 AM : Nov 30, 2007
+ report abuse

LOL Come on Sparky! EVERYONE knows who these people are and what they are about. They are PAID thugs PERIOD! You poor fascist can''t get a grip on the complete failure of your leaders and I can''t understand why.... NO ONE else in the entire world doesn''t know and accept them for what they are but you fools just keep up the pretending. They are FASCIST my friend... you know the people who THINK they are superior to everyone else and thus are SUPPOSED to tell the rest of the world how to do things? The hatred for our government and it''s "leaders" today is so great that our "President" can''t leave the country without an army around him and you need MORE proof!! ROFLMAO Right!! Sieg Heil Bush!!

[myidoncbs]

Bummer for these guys, but "U.S. defense contractors" are mercenaries. In days of old (not so long ago, really), the US took a VERY dim view of all the soldiers of fortune who went to south america to offer their "services" to the highest bidder. In Bush''s "new world order", the US hires these killers to do their bidding. It''s hard to feel too bad when killers have to pay the price for their killing.

The former Columbian presidential candidate, Ingrid Betancourt, is an entirely different matter. For her, I hope for the best possible outcome.

[sbb2211]

To: FeelFree1, mmaza, MCVet and MylDonCBS

These contractors worked out of the base I was stationed at and WERE NOT MERCENARIES! They provided counter-drug operations. So, If you DON''T KNOW what you are talking about, SHUT UP!

[guruknows]

Watch another chinese hostage video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYjQpFAGUrQ

[guruknows]

watch first time ... viks dog fight video on you tube WARNING VERY GRAPHIC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYjQpFAGUrQ

[dan9111]

This article seems toungue-in-cheek. Nobody seems to care what happens to the hostages held at camp X-Ray. Why start to care about hostages now?

[sbb2211]

To Nancy_Naive:

Only if ''your'' definition of mercenary includes surveilance and reconnaissance.

You asked if they were armed? Lemme see, if you DON''T KNOW how CAN you call them mercenaries?

[nordeck52]

SBB2211,

Mercenaries aren''t necessarily armed. A quick look in the dictionary says, "a professional soldier hired for service in a foreign army" or "one who serves or works merely for monetary gain." Nowhere in the definition does it mention weapons. It is PRESUMED that they are armed, assuming they''re soldiers, but it doesn''t necessarily mean that they''re armed.

Note to Nancy_Naive: your definition of mercenary is also flawed.

[smiley676]

Nancy-Naive

Your name is right. Don''t speak unless you know what you are talking about.

Contractors are NOT mercenaries.

[guruknows]

watch first time ... viks dog fight video on you tube WARNING VERY GRAPHIC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=YYjQpFAGUrQ

[glaswolf]

I basicly agree with Nancy_Naive. It would be different if they were merchant marines or such transients. These folks were participant in antiFARC activity, as I suppose their information got folks captured and killed. In a stable warzone, 9 out of 10 rarely look down the barrel of a rifle with ill intent ... base stablization, logistics and its route maintainance for example can occupy most personnel thru interminable intervals of time. They are still military.

[prinzowhales]

''Contractors'' in the field fulfilling military functions should be considered as mercenaries and in fact are acting as mercenaries. FARC is quite right to consider them as prisoners...is the Bogota holding FARC "hostages"? These apparently contracted with the US government to work as mercenaries for Columbia against FARC...even if they are only working in aerial reconnaisance.

[logicanada]

I thought that The U.S. and Columbia were allies insofar as their opinions and strategies against Venezuela?
...and if so why arenT these hostage issues being dealt with? unless.....