DEPARTAMENTO DE ESTADO DE ESTADOS UNIDOS RECHAZA ASESINATO DE DIPUTADOS
Versión en inglés

U.S Departament of State.

Tom Casey, Deputy Spokesman

QUESTION: Yes, on Colombia. Is the United States going to keep supporting the military rescue after the murder of the lawmakers that were kidnapped by the FARC yesterday?

MR. CASEY: My understanding is at least there are -- preliminary confirmation that 11 of the 12 lawmakers who had been taken hostage by the FARC had, in fact, been killed.

Again, we've heard from the Colombian Government that 11 of the 12 lawmakers that had been kidnapped by the FARC had, in fact, been killed while in FARC custody.

And we offer our condolences to their friends and families as well as to the Government of Colombia. You know, the responsibility for their death as well as the responsibility for the well-being of other hostages that the FARC maintains is with the FARC and we call on them to release all of the hostages they have, including the three Americans who have been in detention for quite some time now.

QUESTION: Do you support a military rescue?

MR. CASEY: Look, I'll leave it to the Colombian Government to talk about the tactical decisions that they made with respect to these hostages. Again, the people -- let's be clear about this, though, the people that are responsible for the deaths of these individuals are those that took them hostage. There's no excuse for hostage taking. We certainly want to help the Government of Colombia do what it can to deal with the problems posed by FARC terrorism and are supportive of their efforts to try and release individuals in custody. From our perspective in terms of U.S. nationals that are held hostage, again, as we've always said we want to see them be released, be released unharmed. And our primary concern is their safety. And we want to see them be returned safely to their families and be able to continue their lives.