Ingrid Bétancourt Freed, Along with 14 Other FARC Hostages (Including 3 Americans), in Colombia
The agents — still posing as rebels — persuaded two rebel commanders to board the helicopter with 9mm pistols.
Then the helicopter took off.
Once aloft, Colombian agents, still posing as rebels, persuaded the two FARC members on board to hand over their pistols.
“Suddenly there was something happening,” Betancourt said. “Suddenly I saw the commander who, during four years, had been at the head of our team, who so many times was so cruel and humiliated me, and I saw him on the floor, naked, with bound eyes.”
A man spoke.
“We are the national military,” he said, Betancourt recalled. “You are free.”
The hostages cheered and cried.
“Then I prayed to God, ‘Please keep this helicopter in the air,’” Betancourt said, her voice breaking with emotion. “I didn’t think happiness was possible again.”
She spoke at a news conference that lasted from late Wednesday into early Thursday.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, senior military commanders and other freed hostages also spoke — Uribe called the rescue mission “an unbelievable military achievement.” 
Watch Uribe congratulate the Colombian military on the rescue mission »
“Today the armed forces of Colombia, the army of this country, our soldiers and policemen are entering the pages of heroes of humanity,” the president said. “They have written the name of Colombia on a golden mold of the democratic world.”
The government was cagey about how the infiltrations occurred, saying in a written statement only that it used “various procedures.”
No one was hurt in the operation, though Colombian soldiers could have killed nearly 60 FARC members at the site of the planned handover, Padilla said.
“We preferred to leave them with liberty and life because, in Colombia, we prefer life over death,”
None of the people who collaborated with the government was paid, he said.
“These were people who understood that the FARC has neither a present nor a future,” he said. “This organization is absolutely despised by the Colombian people. The immense majority of the Colombian people support their democracy, their presidency, their armed forces.”
we should be proud to call colombia our ally.
their fortitude, democratic values and resolve are in such stark contrast to their next door neighbor…
and a fantastic smmmmmmackdown to FARC (and, by extension, to their crackhead nutcase buddy next door in venezuela).
UPDATE: even juicier details at hotair to make you bust a gut:
Awesome: Colombian army duped FARC by wearing … Che t-shirts
fantastic!
