It is known that Colombia is one of the countries hit the hardest by the violence in the world. This violence has different forms and shapes such as the violation against the human rights on the part of the army, common delinquency and the cruel an inhuman violence on the part of the guerrillas, paramilitaries and drug traffickers. In addition, there is a strong political corruption. To make the picture even more complex, there is a scandalous level of impunity. It is also known that Colombia’s guerrilla is the oldest in the world and has emerged from different political ideology such as Maoist, Marxist, and Trotsky among others. Initially, these groups were revolutionaries and struggled in favor of the oppressed class. However, as time has gone, they have lost their revolutionary ideas to practically become delinquents. In their form of struggle are included horrendous crimes such as: massacres within the civil population, kidnappings, drug trafficking and the use of the so-called “mine leg-breaking”.
It was said that Force Armed Revolutionary of Colombia (FARC) have kidnapped more of 2.000 persons including politicians, policemen, members of the military, civilians, and three American soldiers. Ingrid Betancourt, a Colombian and French citizen, has made part of this unfortunate group. She was kidnapped while she was running for Colombia’s presidency. The FARC and Colombia’s government have tried to negotiate a humanitarian agreement in which they would exchange kidnapped individuals for imprisoned guerrillas. However, the requirement made by the FARC to begin to negotiate has been considered an exaggeration: clearing up a vast and strategic territory. The French government has been doing a strong effort for Ingrid’s liberation but the Colombian government has not been serious in facing the kidnapped individual’s fate and has dedicated to dance around the bush of this distressed situation.
Hugo Chavez’s the Venezuelan President is an important actor for solving this issue. In fact, he contributed for the liberation of some kidnapped individuals and had said that he was working on the liberation of others, including Ingrid Betancourt, but the possibility of it disappeared with the death of the second in command of this organization, Raul Reyes who was bombarded by the Colombia army. Hugo Chavez had worked in this matter not only for social sensibility but also for the enlargement of his political movement so-called “Bolivariano”. Since the Ingrid Betancourt’s case has become a priority to the French’s government, the humanitarian agreement in Colombia has gotten much international attention. European as Latin American countries have been showing their availability to help Colombia solve this social and political problem. Ingrid Betancourt is the key in all this. In fact, she has become a pawn of a chess game where the FARC and the Colombian, Venezuelan and French governments are playing according to their political interest.
The Colombian government has not shown genuine concern before the kidnapped individuals’ anguished situation. Alvaro Uribe expresses in public his suffering for these individuals’ fate and proposes formulas for solving the problem, but his attitude clearly shows that there is a dichotomy about what he says and what he actually thinks. In other words, there is a lot of hypocrisy in this matter. Colombian citizens made a manifestation in March against the FARC, asking for the liberation of the kidnapped individuals, but this ended up been manipulated by the President himself. In my opinion, this manifestation was addressed in the wrong way, given that it is useless and naïve to ask a delinquent group for the liberation of individuals without them receiving something in return. Even more, these delinquents do not have any moral, social or political obligation with the Colombian population. This manifestation should have been addressed against Alvaro Uribe whom has the power to resolve this situation and has the moral obligation to respond to the Colombian population’s petition. The Colombian population also should demand him to assume the kidnapped individual’s liberation with seriousness and responsibility, and to stop dancing around the bush.
It was said that Force Armed Revolutionary of Colombia (FARC) have kidnapped more of 2.000 persons including politicians, policemen, members of the military, civilians, and three American soldiers. Ingrid Betancourt, a Colombian and French citizen, has made part of this unfortunate group. She was kidnapped while she was running for Colombia’s presidency. The FARC and Colombia’s government have tried to negotiate a humanitarian agreement in which they would exchange kidnapped individuals for imprisoned guerrillas. However, the requirement made by the FARC to begin to negotiate has been considered an exaggeration: clearing up a vast and strategic territory. The French government has been doing a strong effort for Ingrid’s liberation but the Colombian government has not been serious in facing the kidnapped individual’s fate and has dedicated to dance around the bush of this distressed situation.
Hugo Chavez’s the Venezuelan President is an important actor for solving this issue. In fact, he contributed for the liberation of some kidnapped individuals and had said that he was working on the liberation of others, including Ingrid Betancourt, but the possibility of it disappeared with the death of the second in command of this organization, Raul Reyes who was bombarded by the Colombia army. Hugo Chavez had worked in this matter not only for social sensibility but also for the enlargement of his political movement so-called “Bolivariano”. Since the Ingrid Betancourt’s case has become a priority to the French’s government, the humanitarian agreement in Colombia has gotten much international attention. European as Latin American countries have been showing their availability to help Colombia solve this social and political problem. Ingrid Betancourt is the key in all this. In fact, she has become a pawn of a chess game where the FARC and the Colombian, Venezuelan and French governments are playing according to their political interest.
The Colombian government has not shown genuine concern before the kidnapped individuals’ anguished situation. Alvaro Uribe expresses in public his suffering for these individuals’ fate and proposes formulas for solving the problem, but his attitude clearly shows that there is a dichotomy about what he says and what he actually thinks. In other words, there is a lot of hypocrisy in this matter. Colombian citizens made a manifestation in March against the FARC, asking for the liberation of the kidnapped individuals, but this ended up been manipulated by the President himself. In my opinion, this manifestation was addressed in the wrong way, given that it is useless and naïve to ask a delinquent group for the liberation of individuals without them receiving something in return. Even more, these delinquents do not have any moral, social or political obligation with the Colombian population. This manifestation should have been addressed against Alvaro Uribe whom has the power to resolve this situation and has the moral obligation to respond to the Colombian population’s petition. The Colombian population also should demand him to assume the kidnapped individual’s liberation with seriousness and responsibility, and to stop dancing around the bush.
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