According to a press release by the Casa de Nariño “the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces of Colombia have readjusted and increased operations in pursuit of humanitarian localization of the hostages.””Once the hostages are located, the National Government will call the national and international humanitarian agencies to enter the site and arrange the humanitarian rescue of the hostages,” added the presidency.Relatives of the abductees said that the measure is “preposterous and irresponsible”, because military intervention would endanger the lives of the hostages.Juan Carlos Lecompte, husband of the country’s most prominent hostage Ingrid Betancourt, said that he repeatedly advised the Government that “rescue plan” of this kind can lead to the deaths of the hostages.”The guerrillas will not wait for some humanitarian agency to take away their hostages. They are ordered to kill,” Lecompte said.President Uribe is expected to explain the plan in Lima, Peru, where he will attend a European-Latin American summit.
