Farc-ing Everything Up: Colombian Guerrilla Still Hasn’t Handed Hostages To Venezuela

You might recall that Farc had decided to hand over three hostages, including former aide Clara Rojas’ son, a young boy fathered by one of their guerrilla members, over to Hugo Chavez because he’s such a swell kind of guy and all. Unfortunately, the hostages still haven’t been flown to Venezuela and, unsurprisingly, the guerrilla group may have been lying the entire time:

The rebels said that continuing operations by the Colombian army had prevented them from turning over the three hostages.

President Uribe accused the guerrillas of lying and said the boy may actually be in a foster home in the Colombian capital.

So where is little Emmanuel? It’s not like it’s easy to hide a three-year-old, right? Without Vaseline.

Colombian authorities say a malnourished boy matching Emanuel’s description was brought to a hospital in San Jose del Guaviare in June 2005 and then wound up in a Bogota foster home, his real identity unknown.

Officials said information had recently come to light regarding the boy and who he may actually be.

The government says it will compare DNA from the boy, known as Juan David Gomez, with samples from the relatives of Clara Rojas, who was kidnapped in 2002 along with former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt.

Colombia tests ‘hostage’ boy DNA [BBC]
Earlier: Colombia’s Largest Rebel Group Frees Hostages, Hearts Hugo Chavez