U.S. HOSTAGES: POSSIBLE 'PROOF OF LIFE'

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 003651 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/18/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR PTER CO SUBJECT: U.S. HOSTAGES: POSSIBLE 'PROOF OF LIFE' REF: BOGOTA 3580 Classified By: Political Counselor John S. Creamer Reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d) -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Former hostage Jhon Pinchao escaped on April 28 from a FARC camp deep in the jungle of southeast Colombia. Pinchao said he was held with 13 other captives, including three U.S. citizens captured in 2003. He gave accurate descriptions and specific anecdotal details of the three Americans; Embassy officers who interviewed Pinchao believe his account to be credible. This would mark the first 'proof of life' of the U.S. hostages in four years. Pinchao also said French-Colombian captive Ingrid Betancourt was well and had repeatedly tried to escape. End Summary. -------------- Pinchao's Captivity and Escape -------------- ¶2. (C) Jhon Frank Pinchao was one of 61 hostages captured in November 1998 during a three-day FARC seizure of the departmental capital of Mitu (Vaupes) near Colombia's southeastern border with Brazil. 54 of the prisoners were released in a humanitarian accord in June 2001, but Pinchao remained captive for eight and a half years. In his last camp, Pinchao said, he was held with 13 other hostages, including the three American citizens, French-Colombian Ingrid Betancourt, a Colombian politician, and eight Colombian Army personnel. Pinchao said he had previously been held with the Americans, then separated about 2.5 years ago when the Americans were shifted north to La Macarena (Meta) and Pinchao and Betancourt were moved to the east. The two groups were reunited ten months ago. His FARC captors changed camps every few months. Hostages were allowed to read books, shown occasional news reports of their families, and given access to radio broadcasts including messages from family members. ¶3. (C) On the night of April 28 Pinchao escaped the camp. Prisoners were normally chained together from dusk to dawn. After they complained that leg chains made it difficult to put on boots, the prisoners were bound by their hands, enabling Pinchao to apply soap to slip free. He secretly practiced this technique for about a month before his escape. In a camp of 40-45 guerrillas, the hostages were held in an unfenced area demarcated only by posts which prisoners were told not to go past. They were guarded by three fixed sentries and one roving guard. ¶4. (C) Pinchao said Betancourt and the others were siphoning food stores in preparation for an escape in the FARC's boats. On April 28 Pinchao noticed those boats had been moved near to the hostage area. Pinchao said that when he informed Betancourt, he provoked the jealousy of her romantic partner, Cali hostage Luis Eduardo Perez, who started a fight. As a result Pinchao fled alone, evading guards in a moment of heavy rain. He wandered through thick jungles and nearly drowned, before finally receiving help from an indigenous man who delivered him by canoe to anti-narcotics police near the Rio Papuri (Vaupes). Pinchao, exhausted and malnourished, received medical and nutritional attention before being reunited with his parents and eight-year-old son. -------------- Accounts of The Three Americans -------------- ¶5. (C) In a private aside to an Embassy debriefer, and in a follow-up session focused on the three Americans, Pinchao commented on Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansells, and Tom Howes -- U.S. military contractors captured by the FARC in February 2003 when their surveillance plane crashed. Pinchao precisely described their physical features and estimated their approximate ages. He also identified their job roles and knew their family profiles. He said Marc Gonsalves was sick with hepatitis and, despite being treated with a bland diet, had deteriorated over the last 1.5 months from regular exercise to bedrest. Pinchao recounted an anecdote from Marc's childhood about missing a schoolbus. He said the other two Americans were healthy. He spoke of Keith Stansell's children, hunting hobby, and a favorite old truck. In respect to Howes, Pinchao recalled the nickname of Tom's daughter and cited the fact that Tom's wife was "Ecuadorian or Peruvian." In responding to debriefers' questions, Pinchao's body language was natural, with no sign of having been coached. De-brief data will be relayed to the Department (American Citizen Services) to respond to family inquiries and to authenticate the details. -------------- French Hostage Ingrid Betancourt -------------- ¶6. (C) Pinchao was also co-located with former French-Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who was kidnapped on the campaign trail in February 2002. Pinchao described her as a tough and bold leader of the captives, organizing several group efforts to escape. She herself made five attempts to flee. Pinchao said the FARC considered Betancourt to be their prize hostage, so she was minimally punished when recaptured. For example, the FARC would take away her boots for a time. Pinchao said Betancourt taught the other hostages to make compasses from salt and magnetized needles. She also taught him to swim and even stitched repairs in the pack with which he escaped. Pinchao met on 17 May with Ingrid's mother and husband, at the request of the French President. -------------- Ongoing Debriefs: Proofs and Tactics -------------- ¶7. (C) Debriefs continue, with U.S. Embassy personnel playing a lead role in structured questioning. Aside from further 'proof of life' details, interviewers will probe for tactical details that might assist the COLMIL in tracking their FARC captors and locating their camp. Still, the terrain in the area is difficult, with wide expanses of dense and unpopulated jungle. Drucker