After holding them for 19 days, the Farc guerrilla released Helifly helicopter pilots, Juan Carlos Alvarez and Alejandro Ocampo. On July 10^th, after 25 minutes in the air, a small engine forced the pilots to land immediately on the athletic field of El Plato, in Argelia (Cauca). They were taken by the guerrilla, which claimed it had to investigate who the pilots were and their reasons for flying over that area. There were no monetary demands made for the pilots’ release.

They weren’t treated with hostility, the pilots said, but the whole practice of kidnapping is “degrading”. During their time as hostages, they were constantly guarded by at least seven heavily armed guerrillas. Juan Carlos had to spend his birthday, on July 22nd, away from his family wondering if he would ever see any of them again.

Esta entrada fue publicada el Martes, julio 31st, 2012 at 8:28 pm y se archiva en Peace and Human Rights. Puede seguir las respuestas a esta entrada a través de la RSS 2.0. Usted puede dejar una respuesta, o seguirla desde su propio sitio.