By Hugh Bronstein
BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian troops tricked rebels intofreeing politician Ingrid Betancourt and three Americans in abold but bloodless jungle rescue that dealt a severe blow toLatin America's oldest left-wing insurgency.
Betancourt, a dual French-Colombian citizen and formerpresidential candidate, had been held for six years by theRevolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, and wasits most well-known captive.
Wednesday's rescue further weakened the negotiatingposition of FARC rebels, who are already reeling after thedeath of three top leaders, and bolstered President AlvaroUribe as he fends off a political scandal over bribery charges.
The successful mission could shore up investor confidencein U.S. ally Uribe, who is hugely popular at home for hissecurity drive against the FARC and his free-market policies tofoster investment and economic growth.
Betancourt, 46, a mother of two, wept and prayed as shehugged relatives at a Bogota air base while the three U.S.defence contractors -- Keith Stansell, Marc Gonsalves andThomas Howes -- were flown to the United States after fiveyears in captivity.
"I feel like I am returning from a journey into the past,"said Betancourt, dressed in a combat jacket and appearing indecent health.
Eleven kidnapped soldiers and police were also releasedafter the 22-minute rescue operation in the southern jungleprovince of Guaviare. Colombia said the mission involvedinfiltration of rebel leadership and soldiers acting as aidworkers who pretended to transport hostages to a FARCcommander's camp.
"It was an intelligence operation comparable with thegreatest epics of human history, but without a drop of bloodbeing spilled, without one weapon being fired," Uribe said.
But the FARC, considered a terrorist organization by U.S.and European officials, still has scores of other hostages,some of whom have been held for a decade. It wants to swap themfor jailed guerrilla fighters.
Betancourt had not been seen since a rebel video last yearin which she appeared gaunt in a jungle camp. The videoprovoked outrage in Colombia and overseas as former hostagestold how she had been chained after repeated escape attempts.
"Suicide is a daily thought, one that we postpone daily,"she told CNN. "I was very sick, I think I was on the edge ofdeath."
She said the hostages were forced onto a helicopterhandcuffed, but were then amazed to see their captors disarmedon board and hear from an army officer, "You are free."
TOUGHER NEGOTIATIONS
The freed Americans all worked for Northrop Grumman andwere captured in 2003 after their light aircraft crashed in thejungles during a counternarcotics operation.
Hours after their release, they were flown to San Antonioand taken to a military hospital at Fort Sam Houston, an Armypost.
Amanda Howes, the niece of Thomas Howes, told CNN therescue showed "there's always hope. There's always hope foreveryone."
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a self-styled socialistrevolutionary who has been at odds with Uribe over his supportfor the rebels, called the Colombian leader to congratulate himon the successful operation, Venezuelan state television said.
Chavez this year brokered the release of a group ofhostages held by the FARC hoping his leftist credentials couldpersuade the rebels to yield. But a Colombian army mission tokill a top FARC commander inside Ecuador triggered an Andeancrisis that threatened to spill over into border violence.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who had made Betancourt'srelease a priority, sent his foreign minister to Bogota.
Betancourt was kidnapped while campaigning for thepresidency in 2002 when, against the advice of the armedforces, she travelled in southern Colombia and was stopped at arebel roadblock.
The FARC wants Uribe to pull back troops from an area thesize of New York City to facilitate talks over hostages. ButUribe, whose father was killed in a botched FARC kidnapping twodecades ago, offers a smaller safe haven under internationalobservation.
The outlawed rebel army, once a 17,000-member force able toattack cities, has been driven back into remote areas and nowhas about 9,000 combatants.
"There's always the possibility that they will be moreviolent," said Johanna Mendelson-Forman, analyst at the Centrefor Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "Thebiggest challenge for them now is to keep what they have."(Additional reporting by Adriana Garcia in Washington; Writingby Patrick Markey in New York; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
