Freed U.S. Hostage Denounces Colombian Captors as ‘Terrorists’
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FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas — Among the smiles and hugs shared by three American hostages freed last week from rebels in Colombia and their families, one of the men yesterday angrily denounced their captors as “terrorists with a capital ‘T.'”
Marc Gonsalves said the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which held him and two other American military contractors in captivity for more than five years, refuses to acknowledge human rights and rejects democracy. They use revolution as a justification for criminal activity, he said.
“I want to send a message to the FARC,” Mr. Gonsalves said. “FARC, you guys are terrorists. You deny that you are, you say with words that you’re not terrorists, but your words don’t have any value. Don’t tell us that you’re not terrorists, show us that you’re not terrorists.”
Mr. Gonsalves made the remarks at a ceremony welcoming him and two other American military contractors — Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell — home after their time in captivity. The military said the hostages would take no questions from reporters.
“Almost 5½ years ago we fell off the edge of the earth. … We are doing well but we cannot forget those we left behind in captivity,” Mr. Howes said.
Family members, some wiping tears, also expressed their gratitude for their loved ones’ rescue.
Mr. Gonsalves, who was much thinner than he seemed in a pre-captivity picture on display at the ceremony, said he believed the guerrilla group was punishing others because the three men and former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt were rescued.
He said a hostage with a chain around his neck would be forced to march while carrying a heavy backpack and a guerrilla armed with an automatic weapon held the other end of the chain “like a dog.”
“They say that they want equality, they say that they just want to make Colombia a better place,” Mr. Gonsalves said. “But that’s all a lie.”
Ms. Betancourt yesterday advised President Uribe of Colombia to tone down the “radical, extremist language of hate” toward her former captors.
