Marcos Baquero, now 35 years old, was kidnapped by the FARC on June 28, 2009 while serving as president of the municipal council of San Jose del Guaviare in southern Colombia. He is due to be released by the rebels on Wednesday.
Baquero was the only person taken by the FARC's 7th Front during an attack on a mayoral procession in the village of La Carpa in the Guaviare department.
Married with two children, aged 2 and 10 years old, Baquero has not had any contact with his family since being captured. This is despite continual requests from his wife to the FARC for proof of his well-being.
Speaking to Caracol radio on Tuesday, Baquero's wife, Olga Lucia, said she is impatient for Baquero's safe return and anxious to see the reaction of their youngest child. "Marcos Emmanuel was only five months old when [Baquero] was captured. Now he is two years old and only knows his father through photographs," she said.
Lucia added that their oldest child, Hansel, has struggled with the absence of a father, becoming withdrawn and drawing pictures alluding to the kidnapping.
One year after his capture, a protest march requesting Baquero's return took place in San Jose del Guaviare. The march, organizaed by Lucia, included religious political and civil society groups.
Baquero was due to graduate from the School of Public Administration (ESAP) in San Jose in June 2009 but was kidnapped before he could do so.
