Colombian President Álvaro Uribe will reunite during his U.S. trip with the four living, breathing symbols of his government’s greatest success against the FARC: Ingrid Betancourt and three American contractors, all rescued in a July military operation.
Uribe will meet Wednesday with the three American contractors, Keith Stansell, Marc Gonsalves and Tom Howes, who spent nearly six years as captives of the FARC before the July rescue, reports French press agency AFP.
The head of state will later meet with former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt in New York, where she will be to speak before the General Assembly of the United Nations. It will be their first encounter since seeing each other in the presidential palace on the day of the rescue.
Uribe, who is in Washington to promote the U.S.-Colombian free trade agreement which is currently before the U.S. Congress, will also meet with his counterpart there, President George Bush.
Other than the free trade agreement, the two will discuss extending tariff preferences to Andean region countries to assist with the drug war, according to El Espectador.
Uribe will terminate his visit to Washington Sunday and move on to New York, where he will attend the 63rd General Assembly of the United Nations.