Threefer...

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A bold rescue is good news for Colombia – and Canada
The day clock has thankfully stopped in front of city hall in Paris. It used to show how many days Ingrid Betancourt had been held captive by Colombian guerrillas. Now she and 14 other hostages are free, thanks to a brilliant Colombian rescue mission backed by U.S. intelligence...
[just to note an aspect of the rescue generally absent from most reporting]
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A daring rescue calls for reward
It was a hostage rescue right out of a first-rate spy thriller. Colombian government agents disguised as FARC guerrilla fighters - some of them sporting Che Guevara T-shirts, no less - rescued 15 hostages Wednesday via helicopter. The freed hostages included three American military contractors and Ingrid Betancourt, a dual French and Colombian citizen captured in 2002 during her presidential run. The three Americans, who were on an anti-narcotics mission, were captured in 2003.
[guess that would be 'Guevara camouflage' - too funny]
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Disdain Our Best Latin American Ally
[not funny]
FARC has terrorized Colombia for more than 40 years. What began as a communist insurgency gradually morphed into a communist/terrorist/narco gang whose favorite tactics included burning villages, torture, and kidnapping... [snip]

In 2002, Colombia elected Alvaro Uribe, and the nation has been climbing steadily up out of the mire ever since. A fortified police force and military have taken on the FARC with, as today's headlines attest, tremendous success. With greater security has come economic growth. But the gains are still fragile... [snip]

The Bush administration staunchly supports Uribe, and has proposed a bilateral free trade agreement. Unions and their poodles among the leadership of the Democratic Party have balked, throwing up one excuse after another to block the deal. Colombia needed to satisfy worker rights issues. They complied. They needed to assure that strict environmental standards were included. They agreed... [on and on, snip]

Now the Democratic leadership in Congress is insisting that Colombia demonstrate greater progress in quelling violence against trade unionists. (For a summation of the Democrats' position, you need only check out the Teamsters Union radio ad against the treaty.)

The Democrats have delayed consideration of the bill again...
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