O Resgate de Ingrid Betancourt e mais 14 pessoas: golpe nas FARC

O Times britânico faz um bom resumo da Operação Jaque, ocorrida quarta, 2 de julho:

It will be remembered as one of the most audacious rescues of modern times, comparable in its derring-do to the Entebbe raid that snatched Israeli hostages from Uganda in 1976. The Colombian Army’s dispatch of a helicopter deep into the jungle to rescue Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages held by Marxist rebels, with the help of American Intelligence, was a masterstroke of meticulous planning, ingenious deception and faultless execution that has won high praise for Álvaro Uribe, the President, and dealt a critical blow to Farc, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

The reaction of the outside world has been almost as ecstatic as in Colombia, where there was huge rejoicing at this latest setback to a ragtag guerrilla army that has, for more than 40 years, terrorised Latin America’s oldest democracy. In France, the release of Ms Betancourt after six harrowing years in captivity was treated as a cause for national celebration (…)

Mas o mesmo jornal traz artigo com dúvidas sobre a autenticidade da operação, que teria sido na verdade um resgate pago ou subornado, e não um legítimo resgate. Cita-se o valor de US$ 20 milhões.

Do outro lado, o governo da Colômbia nega tais acusações, e existem evidências de uma operação legítima: as aulas de teatro dos agentes envolvidos, a cooperação americana, e a consultoria de um espião isralense aposentado.

Este Diretor do SpecPol, Cedê Silva, não acredita em pagamento nenhum. As FARC perderam Raul Reyes, o nº2, em 1º de março, e o chamado nº6 logo depois. Estão apanhando feio. Elas precisam parecer fortes, e não concordariam numa operação que as fizesse de bobas. A menos que o falso resgate tenha sido apoiado apenas por fração das FARC e não pelo seu alto comando. O que considerando-se a importância da prisoneira Ingrid Betancourt é improvável.

Supreendentemente, o humanista e bondoso ex-presidente Fidel Castro saudou a libertação dos reféns.

O analista da Reuters Hugh Bronstein escreve que a Operação Jaque é sintoma da queda das FARC:

BOGOTA, July 4 (Reuters) – Colombia’s rescue of Ingrid Betancourt shows Latin America’s oldest insurgency is on the brink of defeat in its cocaine-financed war for control of the country, even though the group could take years to die out.

Wednesday’s rescue of French-Colombian politician Betancourt, three Americans and 11 Colombians held for years in the jungle immediately boosted confidence in the Andean nation as the peso currency surged along with the local stock market.

“This was the worst blow to the morale of the rebels ever,” Alvaro Jimenez, an ex-member of the demobilized Colombian M-19 guerrilla group, said. “But that does not mean the war is over. The death throes of this conflict could be very prolonged.”

With this and other recent strikes against leftist FARC rebels, U.S. ally President Alvaro Uribe has crowned his success at improving security in the industrialized north of the country, which is attracting record foreign investment (…)

Assistam a vídeo da operação (sem som) no site da BBC.