On hostage releases and opportunisms

FARC

After Operation Jaque, where they lost some of their most important hostages, former congressman Óscar Tulio Lizcano‘s escape a few months ago, and their consecutive political and military defeats, FARC want to reenter the international stage through the unilateral releases of the last two politicians kidnapped by them, as well as four low-rank Colombian security forces members.

In order to boost their international image, and enforcing the theory that Colombia is dealing with an internal armed conflict, they will keep the policemen and the soldiers with some kind of command hostage, and announce indeed their intention to stop kidnapping civilians in order to achieve the humanitarian interchange (swap of military and police hostages for imprisoned guerrilla fighters).

Thus, given the fighting nature of the hostages in their hands, the interchange they are seeking would happen exclusively between belligerent forces from both sides. With this measure, FARC put Colombian government on the defensive abroad and clean their image as a "kidnapping" organization at the same time.

Colombian government

President Uribe’s recklessness keeps playing dirty tricks on him. Using his emotions instead of the reasons, ruling in the heat of the moment, the Colombian leader gives orders and undoes them, chased by the ups and downs of the events, which shows improvisation and a lack of a true coherent policy for peace.

It is worrying that, while every effort was made in order to carry successfully the release of the four members of the security forces, there had been flights by military airplanes in the area, in a defying attitude, putting not only the life of the hostages but also the ones of the humanitarian commission at risk.

But, besides, denying the fact, and later admitting it after the appearance of video evidence disproving their words, and then, in a vindictive attitude, excluding the members of the humanitarian commision, and next allowing back one of them, Senator Piedad Córdoba, on ICRC’s (or First Lady Lina Moreno) request, clearly shows that Mr Jara’s words are true: Uribe’s administration is not interested in peace but military victory, no matter its cost.

Journalists

What journalist Jorge Enrique Botero did is blameworthy. Taking part in a humanitarian mission means prudence, discretion, and neutrality because the hostages’ lives come first. Breaking this rule and turning the mission into a journalistic competition ends up breaking this kind of backing schemes up into the future with unpredictable consequences.

The same thing can be said about Hollman Morris, who offered his services to the captors in order to make manipulated interviews, which, instead reporting objectively on the events, show a biased information which only seeks to whitewash the image of the guerrilla group.

This way, journalism, in the hands of these two reporters, stops being a witness of the events and becomes a part of the conflict, offering itself to their service, not as accomplice, as they were called by Álvaro Uribe in an irresponsible way, but as useful idiots of the guerrillas.

Simple, disposable figures

Amidst this interests, bets, and profits market, which includes poses and roles, are the kidnapped and their families, a simple article offered to the highest bidder. They are disposable figures later to be abandoned to their own luck, which will not be a huge one, because not everyone is lucky enough to be Íngrid Betancourt.

It’s just matter of social class… and opportunism, of course.

This article was originally published 4 February 2009 in equinoXio. Translated from Spanish by Julián Ortega Martínez

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