(25 Jul 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cauca, Colombia – July 25, 2025
1. FARC guerrillas helping kidnapped women off the boat
2. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) No name given, Released Hostage:
"Mum, don’t cry, we’re waiting for the Red Cross to come. Everyone treated us well, we’re fine."
3. Freed hostages hugging and crying
4. Freed hostages praying
5. Freed hostages hugging and crying
STORYLINE:
Nine contractors working for the Cauca provincial government in southwestern Colombia were released on Friday after eight days in captivity at the hands of a dissident group of the now-defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia guerrilla group (FARC), according to the state Ombudsman’s Office.
The hostages arrived on Friday morning by boat on a river in Cauca, guarded by armed men wearing camouflage uniforms with armbands bearing the name ‘Columna Alex Guerrero’ shortly before being released, according to The Associated Press, which corroborated the information on site.
Feeling that they were close to regaining their freedom, some of the contractors hugged each other and cried with emotion.
‘Mum, don’t cry. We’re waiting for the Red Cross to come,’ said one of the freed women when the armed men allowed her to call her family.
The contractors, including seven women, were kidnapped on 17 July near the municipality of López de Micay, Cauca. The governor’s office said they were carrying out a ‘humanitarian and social mission’ to bring government services to the communities.
A spokesperson for the dissidents who spoke after the release told the press that they were detained for allegedly being involved in providing technical support to the army and police, although he assured that they were treated properly and were in good health. The man, dressed in military uniform, did not identify himself.
Alias ‘Iván Mordisco’ is the main leader of one of the dissident factions of the FARC that did not sign the peace agreement signed in 2016 between the guerrilla group and the state.
AP Video shot by Santiago Saldarriaga
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