Get the FARC out of here

In an audacious rescue yesterday, the Colombian military freed 15 hostages from captivity. Some of the hostages had been captive for 6 years. The hostages were being held by the terrorist group called FARC, the self-proclaimed Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Among the hostages were 3 Americans (Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell) and a former Colombian presidential candidate (Ingrid Betancourt).

The rescue involved months of planning and a fair amount of deceit and cunning. Spies had infiltrated FARC and were able to convince the group to hand over the hostages believing they were being transferred to another camp.

Just who is FARC? FARC was established in 1964 as the military wing of the Colombian Communist Party. They are recognized as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the EU. They are heavily involved in the cocaine trade which is the primary source of their funding. They also receive assistance from a sympathetic neighbor.

Megalomaniac dictator and chum to Hollyweird A-listers Hugo Chavez is linked to FARC. Documents seized in a raid on FARC last March revealed several years of cooperation between FARC and the Venezuelan government. Chavez was about to loan the group $250 million to purchase arms. Prior to this discovery in January Chavez had been lobbying hard to have FARC removed from a list of terrorist organizations.

Sean Penn could not be reached for comment. He was vacationing with the Castro brothers.