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Rescued US hostages back on US soil

Americans Keith Stansell, left, Marc Gonsalves, center, and Thomas Howes, second right, are shown inside an airplane after being rescued by Colombian military personnel from the Colombian jungle on Wednesday. PHOTO: EPA/US EMBASSY

Three American hostages rescued from leftist guerillas in Colombia arrived safely in Texas early yesterday and were taken to a military hospital, where they were expected to reunite with their families and undergo tests and treatment.

The US military contractors — Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell — were held for five years by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Their plane landed at Lackland Air Force Base shortly after 11pm on Wednesday. The men then quickly boarded two helicopters headed to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, where they landed a short time later.

Ingrid Betancourt and 11 Colombian police and soldiers were also freed in the same operation on Wednesday.

The Americans, all wearing olive green flight suits, exited the back end of an Air Force C-17 with little fanfare, surrounded by several other people.

Their drug-surveillance plane went down in the rebel-held Colombian jungle in February 2003.

PHOTO: AFP

The three were the longest-held American hostages in the world, the US Embassy in Bogota said.

They were employees of a Northrop Grumman Corp subsidiary that has supported Colombia’s fight against drugs and rebels.

Their families have complained publicly about what seemed to be the US government’s failure to act to win the men’s release.

LONG WAIT

“We didn’t know what the heck was going on,” Gonsalves’ father, George, told reporters. “I’m getting information from you guys.”

The Americans’ fate seemed particularly grim after “proof-of-life” images released last November showed them appearing haggard, even haunted, against a deep jungle background.

The three contractors and Betancourt were among a group of rebel-designated “political prisoners” whom the FARC planned to release only in exchange for hundreds of imprisoned rebels.

But every attempt at talking about a prisoner swap seemed to go nowhere.

Behind the scenes, however, Colombia’s armed forces were closing in on the rebels, with the help of billions of dollars in US military support.

RESCUE EFFORTS

The US and Colombian governments learned the hostages’ location “any number of times” and planned several rescue missions during their five years in captivity, but the difficulty of extracting them alive had prevented the missions from being carried out, said a US government official in Washington who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of intelligence matters.

Last month, Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said soldiers had spotted the three men in the southern jungles, but they disappeared into the forest before the troops could attempt a rescue.

And after the men were freed on Wednesday, US Ambassador William Brownfield said US and Colombian forces cooperated closely on the rescue mission, including sharing intelligence, equipment, training advice and operational experience.

The Americans appeared healthy in a video shown on Colombian television, though Brownfield, who met with them at a Colombian military base, said two of the three were suffering from the jungle malady leishmaniasis and “looking forward to modern medical treatment.”

FAMILIES REACT

Gonsalves’ father George was mowing his yard when an excited neighbor relayed the news he had seen on television.

“I didn’t know how to stop my lawnmower,” he said. “I was shocked. I couldn’t believe it.”

“We’re still teary-eyed and not quite have our wits about us,” said Stansell’s stepmother, Lynne.

And Howes’ niece, Amanda Howes, said the rescue “redefines the word miracle.”

Congratulations poured in to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe from US President George W. Bush and other world leaders.

Republican Senator John McCain said Uribe had told him in advance of the rescue plans when he was in Colombia on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“It’s a very high-risk operation,” he said. “I congratulate President Uribe, the military and the nation of Colombia.”

Gonsalves’ father, who later got a phone call from the FBI confirming his son was free, expected an emotional family reunion, especially for his son’s three children, now teenagers.

“Think about your children if they don’t see you for a week a weekend or a month,” he said. “It’s five years pulled out of your life.”
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