265: Joy as Colombian hostages freed at last

The day finally came. Today, the highest profile hostage held by FARC rebels in Colombia, former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, was rescued along with 14 others. As today's linked article from Time magazine reports, Betancourt was seized by the FARC six years ago and has been used as a bargaining chip by the rebels ever since. Her rescue today is widely seen as a huge blow to the FARC, who are losing popular support, seeing their members defect, and witnessing the demise of their leadership. The nature of the rescue was itself humiliating - Colombian military officers had infiltrated the FARC and ultimately tricked the rebels into handing the hostages over and letting them board disguised military helicopters. Amazingly, nobody was hurt. It's too early to say whether the FARC might be ready to do a deal and put down their arms, but their options are narrowing. Meanwhile, for Betancourt and her fellow (now ex) hostages, the options just got a whole lot better. (Photo from Time.)