Colombian rebels release soldier held for 11 months

Leftist Colombian rebels Sunday released the first of two military hostages they have promised to free, with the liberation of the other -- one of this nation’s longest-held hostages -- expected Tuesday.

Members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, released Josue Daniel Calvo, 23, to a team that included representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, a Brazilian helicopter crew and leftist Sen. Piedad Cordoba, a key intermediary in other FARC hostage releases over the last two years.

The FARC is expected to soon release Pablo Emilio Moncayo, who has been held for 12 years. His father has drawn attention to the case here and in Europe with walking tours and by wearing chains he said he would keep on until his son is released.

Calvo was on patrol in Meta state in April when he was wounded and became separated from his army unit. On Sunday afternoon, emerging in civilian clothes from the Brazilian helicopter after it landed in Villavicencia, capital of Meta, the smiling but pale soldier walked with a limp and cane.

Appearing later with his family and in military fatigues, Calvo declined to speak to reporters at the airport. His father, Luis Alberto Calvo, said his son would be going to a military hospital in Bogota for treatment of his knee, which was damaged in the firefight before his capture.

To facilitate the release, armed forces halted military operations around a predetermined jungle clearing in southeast Colombia where Calvo was freed.

President Alvaro Uribe condemned the FARC for using the release as an electoral show in advance of May’s presidential election. But Uribe said last week that he would observe an agreed-upon standing down of armed forces despite a car bombing in Buenaventura on Wednesday that killed six. Colombian intelligence blamed the violence on the FARC.

The rebels are still holding more than 20 military and political hostages deemed of political value, and hundreds of other people for ransom. In May, insurgents kidnapped and are believed to be still holding city councilman Armando Acuna of Garzon, in southwest Colombia.

In December, a dozen rebels stormed the residence of Caqueta state Gov. Luis Francisco Cuellar, spirited him out of the city and later killed him as army units closed in.

Kraul is a special correspondent.