The
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army ( es, link=no, Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de ColombiaEjército del Pueblo, FARC–EP or FARC) is a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian confl ...
(FARC) was a self-proclaimed
Marxist-Leninist revolutionary
A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.
...
guerrilla organization, listed internationally as a
terrorist
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
group by a number of countries. Estimates claim that the FARC at one point had hundreds of hostages who were held for
ransom
Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or the sum of money involved in such a practice.
When ransom means "payment", the word comes via Old French ''rançon'' from Latin ''red ...
.
The following list of former hostages are what the FARC called "canjeables" (exchangeable), as they offered their freedom in return for the liberty of 500 FARC members held in Colombian prisons through a
prisoner exchange
A prisoner exchange or prisoner swap is a deal between opposing sides in a conflict to release prisoners: prisoners of war, spies, hostages, etc. Sometimes, dead bodies are involved in an exchange.
Geneva Conventions
Under the Geneva Convent ...
. The
humanitarian exchange
The Humanitarian Exchange or Humanitarian Accord ( es, Acuerdo Humanitario, Intercambio Humanitario or Canje Humanitario) referred to a possible accord to exchange hostages for prisoners between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) gu ...
never happened. The FARC released their last political hostages in April 2012.
Former hostages
References
Speech by President Uribe; January 10th, 2008Colombia ClamorsLas Voces del SecuestroBBC News: Betancourt 'rescued in Colombia'
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Political Hostages Held By Farc
FARC