The eleven deputies who were killed while in FARC custody, did not
die in crossfire with the army, but were assassinated by guerrillas
because of paranoia, the only surviving deputy Sigifredo López said
hours after being released by the guerrillas.
According to López, his colleagues were massacred because the guerrillas in charge of guarding them mistook an approaching group of fellow guerrillas were members of the army. The hostages then were shot, because the order had been to kill a hostage before there would be a possibility the hostage could escape or be liberated.
López was not killed himself, because he had been separated from the group and his personal guard was away at the time of the confusion and the following massacre.
López, speaking with the press in Cali, called the murder of his colleagues an act of cowardice and a war crime.
The FARC had always said the Valle del Cauca politicians were killed in crossfire between guerrillas and the army. Colombian authorities always denied there had been any attempt to liberate the hostages or any military action going on at the time of the massacre.