Members of Congress discuss FARC hostage rescue with Colombian Defense Minister

By Megan Fletcher
July 22, 2008

Hosts: Senators Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Mel Martínez (R-FL)

Other Participating Members: Representatives Sam Farr (D-CA), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), and Jerry Weller (R-IL)

The Inter-American Dialogue‘s Congressional Members Working Group met with Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos on July 22 to discuss the July 2 Colombian Army rescue operation that freed 15 hostages of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), among other issues in US-Colombia affairs. Former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three American defense contractors were among the 15 hostages recovered. Senators Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Mel Martínez (R-FL) co-hosted the session. They thanked Santos for his government’s work that freed the three American citizens who had been held by the FARC for over five years.

Participants noted that Colombia – a country that was on the verge of a failed state eight years ago – has a very different reality today.  Although the FARC is still a major threat to the population and government institutions, especially in rural areas, the group exhibits signs of weakened cohesion, including increased demobilizations of FARC combatants. At the same time, the country is benefitting from steady, high economic growth; last year Colombia’s GDP grew 7.5 percent. Support of the government is the highest in Latin America; President Uribe’s approval rating reached as high as 91 percent following the hostage rescue, said Santos.

Minister Santos thanked the United States for its assistance through Plan Colombia, which he said had contributed decisively to the country’s turn-around in the last several years. He hailed the rescue operation as successful – without bloodshed and violence – and said it demonstrated that a combination of both soft and hard power was the most effective strategy against the FARC.

Participants expressed the hope that more hostages would be recovered. They emphasized that pressure on the FARC would need to continue and favored a strong, sustained bipartisan support of Colombia from the United States towards this end. Some noted that sealing the Colombian border would be important in order to further weaken the FARC.