FARC Frees Hostages in Colombia, Men Reunited With Families

In Colombia, 10 men were reunited on Tuesday with their families.

Each of the men had spent more than a decade as prisoners of the Marxist rebel group, the FARC, deep in the jungle.

The reunions were pretty emotional, says reporter and author John Otis, who has written extensively on Colombia’s hostage scene.

“When you have a loved one that’s lost in the jungle for that long, it’s almost worse than their being dead,” he said. “Some of them didn’t even recognize their loved ones.”

The ten soldiers and policemen were freed by the FARC on Monday, after the rebels said they were getting out of the kidnapping business.

The FARC says it has no more military captives, although it may still be holding hundreds of civilians.

Are you with The World?

The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.

When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.