Somewhere in Bogotá, El Narco is gnashing his teeth over this

Video in Spanish. Story by Aporrea:

Corporal Pablo Emilio Moncayo thanked the president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa; that of Brazil, Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, and of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez Frías, for securing his freedom after twelve years as a hostage of the FARC.

In his first speech as a free man, on Tuesday, in the airport of Florencia, Colombia, he also thanked the Colombians for Peace, Senator Piedad Córdoba, the Catholic Church, and the International Red Cross for their part in the liberation.

“I want to thank the president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, for being the one to request this gesture of peace with the guerrillas. I also want to thank the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, and of Brazil, Lula da Silva, for their leadership,” said Moncayo.

Moncayo also conveyed messages from his comrades still being held by the FARC.

“My colonel, Duarte, and my sergeant, Martínez, request that a non-governmental international aid organization help broker their freedom.”

He added that in his own time he will announce his decision whether or not to remain in the Colombian army.

“I’m proud to have worn my uniform the entire time, while having seen so many things, out of love for my beautiful Colombian people,” Moncayo said.

At the same time he called for the national authorities of Colombia to deepen their negotiations with the FARC, because the latter represent an important Colombian reality.

“I think the FARC guerrillas will not change the history of Colombia–they simply exist, they are a reality that can’t be denied no matter how much you want to. They seem invisible, but there they are,” Moncayo commented.

Corporal Moncayo is the second person unilaterally released by the FARC this year, as part of a process which is hoped to lead to humanitarian prisoner exchanges.

Translation mine.

Cpl. Moncayo is one of the more famous hostages formerly held by the FARC. His father, Gustavo, walked the length and breadth of Colombia in chains to protest the continued absence of his son, as well as the Uribe government’s continued unwillingness to engage in peace talks with the guerrillas; he became known as the “Peace Walker” for this activity. Until Uribe broke off the process, Moncayo and Ingrid Betancourt were to have been freed during Chavecito’s talks with the FARC commanders. Ingrid Betancourt was liberated in a covert operation that was widely trumpeted–and condemned by the International Committee of the Red Cross, who did not participate in the operation, but found their logo being used under false pretenses. When the truth about that one emerged, it was a black eye for Uribe.

He must be grinding his teeth to hear Correa, Lula and Chavecito praised here, but not himself.

PS: For more stuff to get El Narco’s clashers grinding, click here and scroll to the bottom to hear Moncayo saying you can’t deny the reality of the FARC.