October 1 3, 2008

With reference to the item published by The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald, repeated by certain other media, the Commander in Chief of the Army and Acting Minister of Defense General Freddy Padilla-de León wishes to make the following statement:

1. “Operación Jaque”, which secured the rescue of fifteen people who had been kept in deplorable conditions by FARC for more than six years, as an initiative of the Colombian army and was devised by military intelligence personnel with the supervision, control and guidance of the high command of the army and the approval of the Government.

2. It should be noted that in mid-2008 a number of Colombian and foreign organizations were pursuing activities designed to secure the release of the kidnap victims, despite which the rescue of  the three Americans, the French-Colombian citizen and  11 Colombian citizens was only possible as a result of intelligence work by the army and the professional and patriotic actions with which Operación Jaque was executed.

3. We note that only now, 100 days after the completion of the humanitarian rescue mission, have certain persons attempted to propose, for inexplicable and unknown reasons, new versions of the event which seek to discredit its successful oucome.

4. The information disseminated by the media tends to favor – unintentionally – the FARC version of the event,  which has tried to justify the blow dealt to them in Operación Jaque. It pretends to minimize serious internal problems of command and control  which have allowed the Colombian army to penetrate and infiltrate them, right to the top of their narco-terrorist organization.

Bogotá, October 13, 2008.