By Dean Graber
Two weeks before the second round of Colombia’s presidential election, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has released videos that show four police and a soldier held since the late 1990s are still alive, BBC and CNN report. The five hostages urge officials to hold talks with the rebels, BBC adds.
The FARC video was sent to Sen. Piedad Córdoba, who has previously played a key role as a mediator in humanitarian exchange efforts between the government and the FARC. Journalist Antonio José Caballero of RCN Radio says “the messages are fresh,” and must have been recorded one to two weeks ago, news agencies report.
Separately, Semana.com publishes an interview with the mother of Tanja Nijmeijer, a Dutch woman fighting with the FARC whose role with the rebel group was recently revealed to be more important than previously assumed. A newly published book and a documentary broadcast last month on Dutch TV reveal that the Dutch-born rebel has risen to the inner circle of the FARC, The New York Times recently notes.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
