Axis of Evil
FREED HOSTAGES SPEAK OUT, PRAISE U.S. and COLoMBIAN GOVERNMENTS
July 2008
Former Hostages Speak Movingly of Freedom, Time in Captivity
By Jim Forsyth
Three Americans Northrop-Grumman contractors who were rescued from a rebel group in Colombia last week held emotional reunions with their families today, and talked about the five and a half years that have passed since they, in the words of former hostage Thomas Howes, 'fell off the edge of the earth,' 1200 WOAI news reports.
The men hugged their wives, embraced their parents, and smiled and gave 'thumbs up' signs on the stage of the auditorium at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where they were brought for treatment after their dramatic rescue from the captivity of FARC rebels in Colombia last Wednesday. The three men waved and smiled and displayed a small American flag, passing it back and forth as an auditorium packed with soldiers stood and applauded. Former hostage Keith Stansell held up his twin five year old sons, whom he saw for the first time last week, and brushed aside a tear, saying quietly, 'isn't this great!'
But it was former hostage Marc Gonsalves who spoke openly about the terrors that the men suffered for the past five and a half years at the hands of the leftist insurgents who kidnapped them when their plane crashed in the southern Colombian jungle in February of 2003.
"The FARC are not a revolutionary group," Gonsalves said, repeatedly pausing to collect his thoughts. "They are terrorists with a capital 'T.' Bad people."
"Their interests like in drug trafficking and extortion. They refuse to acknowledge all human rights. They reject democracy. I have seen them hold a newborn baby in captivity. A baby that needed medical help, that was sick. They kept him there in the jungle. I myself, and my friend Tom and Keith, have also been victims of their hate, their abuse, and their torture. I have seen how even their own guerillas commit suicide to avoid the slavery that FARC has committed them too."
Gonsalves provided an insight into what life was like for the captives in the jungles.
"There are people who right now, this very moment, are still there in the jungle, being held hostage. They are being punished because we got rescued. Try to imaging that. They are wearing chains around their necks. They are going to get up early tomorrow morning. They are going to put a heavy backpack on their backs, and they will be forced to march, with that chain around their neck, while a guerilla, with an automatic weapon, is holding the other end of his chain, like a dog.
"Those are innocent people. Those are people who were working for the country. All they want is what we wanted, and what God had the grace to give us, our freedom."
Gonsalves finished with what he called 'a message to the FARC.' "You guys are terrorists. You deny that you are, you say it with words, but your words don't have any value. Don’t' tell us that you're not terrorists. Show us that you're not terrorists. Let those other hostages come home."
Gonsalves said FARC guerrillas told him that they were 'brainwashed' into joining the FARC, and they stay with the rebel group only because they know they will be killed if they try to leave.
All three of the men called on Americans 'not to forget' that there are still hostages in the Colombian jungle, and 'we have to work to get them out.'
Gonsalves called the Colombian Army operation last week 'the most perfect rescue in the history of the world.'
"You guys who rescued us are heroes," he said. "You gave us our live back. Now I don't have to dream of being free any more. It feels so good to be free."
The men did not take questions from reporters.
Howes and Stansell were more circumspect in their remarks.
Stansell said his Colombian-born wife and his parents in Florida 'sustained him and are the reason he is alive.'
"Their consistent dedication and unwavering love never failed and it kept me alive, believe that."
Stansell tapped a large American flag behind the podium and said as his voice cracked with emotion, 'this doesn't run.'
Howes and Stansell both provided remarks in English and Spanish. A large contingent of Colombia reporters has been camped in San Antonio for the past five days, reporting on the activities of the three men.
"It's a pleasure to be back in the USA," Howes said.
Stansell ended the event on an upbeat note: "To Governor Crist of the great state of Florida," he said as he walked off the stage with his family. "I don't have a drivers license. How am I supposed to get home!"
