BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -
Ingrid Betancourt woke up, as always, at 4 a.m., for another numbing day in her seventh year of rebel captivity deep in Colombia’s jungle.
The former presidential candidate listened to news of her mother and daughter over the radio then was told to pack by her guerrilla captors - helicopters were coming.
The sound always filled her with dread, but this time she and 14 other hostages - including three U.S. military contractors held since 2003 - were airlifted to freedom in an audaciously “perfect” operation involving military spies who tricked the rebels into handing over their prize hostages without firing a shot.
The stunning caper involved months of intelligence gathering, dozens of helicopters on standby and a strong dose of deceit: The rebels shoved the captives, their hands bound, onto a white unmarked MI-17 helicopter, believing they were being transferred to another guerrilla camp.
Looking at helicopter’s crew, some wearing Che Guevara shirts, Betancourt reasoned they weren’t aid workers, as she’d expected - but rebels…
Click here to read entire story
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.