Edgar Yesid Duarte Valero, a Colombian police officer who has been in FARC captivity for eleven years, was on Friday promoted to the rank of colonel, reports Colombian media.
The Colombian government announced the promotion of Duarte Valero, who was kidnapped by the guerrilla organization in October 1998 in the southern Colombian department of Caqueta, and to this day remains in FARC captivity.
The insignia commemorating Duarte Valero’s promotion were delivered to his family, who sent a message of hope to the colonel and a plea to the government to negotiate a prisoner exchange deal with the guerrilla group.
A proof-of-life video featuring Duarte Valero was last week released by the FARC, in which the hostage said “To the Colombian people close to electing a new president, may he be a man with great ability, leadership and intelligence, who fights with the weapon of ideas.”