Colombian PRESIDENT ALVARO URIBE HAS ACHIEVED A MAJOR VICTORY AGAINST THE COLOMBIAN REVOLUTIONARY ARMED FORCES (FARC) …  AND HIS NEIGHBOR HUGO CHAVEZ. 

     Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has achieved a long string of victories over the FARC during this year. The deaths of the FARC senior commander, Manuel Marulanda “Sure Shot”; Raul Reyes, FARC’s second in command; and Ivan Rios, another powerful guerilla leader; coupled with the surrender of a female guerrilla commander, Nelly Avila Moreno, have already left the terrorist organization in shambles. These victories have exposed the FARC's  growing weakness and increasing inability to operate effectively within the dangerous Colombian jungle. Many have predicted the guerrillas’  impending collapse, but most had reserved final judgment as long as the FARC held its most important card: the high profile hostages… Of course, until now.

     On July 2nd, as a result of a daring maneuver performed exclusively by the Colombian police and military, 15 hostages, including three American contractors, and the FARC’s most potent bargaining chip, Ingrid Betancourt, were rescued.  Betancourt, a French-Colombian citizen and former candidate for president,. was held in captivity for six years. She was the FARC’s highest-priority captive and main bargaining chip. The rescued Americans, Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell,  who also were in captivity for years, were captured when their plane crashed in 2003 while conducting anti-narcotic mission as security contractors for the U.S. Defense Department. That so many hostages were rescued, and not released, as a result of the long ongoing negotiations promoted by Hugo Chávez is an indication of how far the FARC has fallen in the past few years.

    In a perfect operation reminiscent of a cold war spy novel, Colombia Armed Forces rescued  the hostages relying on old fashioned intelligence methods, and making “Operation Check” a perfect and incredible victory, as President Uribe and Ingrid Betancourt called it. Unquestionable, It was an intelligence operation comparable with the greatest epics of human history, but without a drop of blood being spilled and without one weapon being fired. 

    As a result of this astonishing victory, President Uribe has emerged as a true hero to all Colombians and the international community, gaining increased leverage not only against the FARC, but also against his neighbor Hugo Chávez, with whom his relationship has been souring since last May 1st, when Uribe ordered the pursuit and destruction of terrorist Raul Reyes in Ecuadorian territory. The colombian president has long criticized Hugo Chavez and his allies for interfering in his country's internal affairs, especially for their insistence on attaining belligerence status for the FARC and Chavez's insistence to be the leader of  the negotiation process. However, Uribe has now made pretty clear to Hugo Chavez and Ecuador President Rafael Correa and the rest of their followers that their services are not longer needed… PERIOD.