Daring Rescue Frees Betancourt Without a Shot

July 2, 2008— -- A daring military rescue operation that relied on wits and deception, rather than force, succeeded today in freeing 15 hostages held by a guerrilla group in the Colombian jungle.

Those rescued included the former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, whose six-year hostage ordeal made her a cause celebre around the world, and three American military contractors, who were seized by FARC (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) guerrillas in 2003.

The operation was carried out by Colombian army troops with the advance knowledge and support of U.S. officials.

Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said army troops infiltrated the FARC rebels, who were holding the hostages as part of their long-running guerrilla war and terror campaign against the state.

The infiltrators convinced local FARC militants that they'd been ordered to fly the hostages to another location, Santos said. The hostages were loaded aboard a helicopter and the militants, realizing they were outwitted and surrounded, gave up without a fight.

Betancourt, the three American contractors, and 11 Colombian police and soldiers who'd been held with them were then flown to a Colombian military base.

Colombian officials said the three Americans boarded a flight back to the United States this evening. They are expected to land in Texas and be taken to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.

Betancourt spoke to Colombian radio just hours later and called the rescue operation "absolutely impeccable." She said not a single shot was fired.

Though she was just one of many hostages taken by FARC over the years, Betancourt's case drew the most international attention. She was a high-profile politician running for president of Colombia when she was kidnapped during a campaign stop on Feb. 23, 2002.

Betancourt held dual citizenship in France, where her former husband and one of their two grown children live, and they led a tireless campaign to win her freedom. Her son Lorenzo called news of her rescue, "if true, the most beautiful news of my life."