The conspiracy theories begin

FARC is pretty much farked, according to The Globe and Mail. Good. A Swiss radio station, however, says the American and Colombian governments paid FARC to release Ingrid Betancourt and her fellow hostages:

The bloodless and apparently brilliant operation to free 15 hostages from the Colombian jungle today became mired in confusion, with some reports even claiming that the entire episode was nothing but a sham to disguise the payment of a ransom.

Swiss public radio cited an unidentified source “close to the events, reliable and tested many times in recent years" as saying the operation had in fact been staged to cover up the fact that the US and Colombians had paid $20 million for their freedom.

The hostages released on Wednesday, including Ingrid Betancourt, the French-Colombian politician, "were in reality ransomed for a high price, and the whole operation afterwards was a set-up," the public broadcaster said.

[...]

French media have also raised questions about Ms Betancourt’s relatively healthy appearance after her release, compared with the gaunt and haggard look of her last video from captivity. French state radio suggested the hostages may have been given food and medicine to return them to health before their release. There was no suggestion that the hostages knew they were to be released.

Dominique Moisi, one of France's leading foreign policy experts, said that it was “probable” that the Farc had been paid money as part of the "infiltration" of their command. “They were bought in order to turn them around, like Mafia chiefs," he said on French state television, as Ms Betancourt's plane was taxiing up to the terminal in Paris.

Meanwhile, Israeli media also reported that military advisers and officers from its intelligence service, Mossad, had helped plan and execute the operation. One of the advisers credited with helping the Colombians is a retired Israeli Army officer named Israel Ziv.

This is Latin America, so I can't definitively say some funny business didn't happen, but - as with all conspiracy theories - the burden of proof rests upon the people promoting it. (At least the phrase "controlled demolition" hasn't come up yet.) Michael Moynihan has more.

Damian P.

Update: more details about the rescue, including video.

Posted by damian at July 5, 2008 06:06 PM