Freedom in February!

February has been a great month so far! Two political hostages have been released in the last week!

On Feb. 3rd Alan Jara was released by the FARC after being held hostage for nearly 7 years and 7 months. Please watch the video below of the day he arrived and you will see how Colombia was rejoicing with him and his family. His son is 15 years old now...he wasn´t even 8 years old yet when his dad was kidnapped! Alan Jara (now 52 yrs. old) served for 2 years as the Governor of Meta (a ¨state¨ in Colombia) and then he worked for the United Nations. On July 15, 2001 he was out visiting some construction sites of the UN, riding in a UN vehicle, when he was stopped by the FARC and forced to go with them. He had some very interesting things to say at the press conference the day he was released. There are a lot of video clips on You Tube but unfortunately I haven´t found any that are in English. I have posted a video below of a brief interview with him after just a week back in civilization.

Later, on Feb. 5th, Sigifredo Lopez was released after 6 years and 9 months in captivity. Sigifredo was the only survivor of the Valle de Cauca Deputies hostage crisis of June 2007 . His two sons were 11 and 13 when he was taken and now they are 18 and 20!

I am very moved by this whole topic but I feel a bit overwhelmed trying to share about the FARC because there are very deep feelings, controversies and strong political opinions involved in this national conflict. If you really are interested in learning more then take advantage of Google and see what you can find. I am on the look-out for a really good article that will share more in-depth about this situation. If I find one, I will share it with you.

In the meantime, read the link posted above and take a look at the video clips below. Don´t forget to pause the music on my play list so you can hear the video sound.