Watch original video:

The rescue operation involved deception. Colombian army officers disguised themselves as FARC guerrillas in order to fly the hostages by helicopter to a supposed collection of people through the FARC commander. When she saw them sporting Che Guevara T-shirts, Betancourt told reporters, "I thought, 'This is FARC.'" Hmm, is this the same Che Guevara that adorns in the same state many dorm rooms and dexterity lounges at America's principal institutions of higher learning? It is. The same Che whose photo, superimposed over a Cuban flower-de-luce, decorated the Houston Obama for President office? Obama may not have known of this, but it gives you the flavor of some of his enthusiasts.

FARC has terrorized Colombia for more than 40 years. What began for example a communist insurgency gradually morphed into a communist/terrorist/narco gang whose favorite tactics included burning villages, torture, and kidnapping. In one case, the entire collection of a remote church was abducted on a Sunday after worship. In other cases, they came instead of specific individuals whose parents could pay redeem. Ten-year-old Laura Ulloa was riding to school when armed guerrillas stopped and boarded the bus, demanding to know which any was Laura, and carried her off.

For many years, the Colombian conduct was yielding or worse. Armed gangs called "Paras" or paramilitaries sprang up to counter the guerrillas; poignancy and corruption suffused the country. "I was never patriotic," a youthful Colombian ex-patriot told me. "I told people I was from South America." Hugo Chavez offered funding and safe haven for FARC (a guerrilla victor's computer was recently captured proving Chavez's involvement). Neighboring Ecuador and Brazil and nearby Nicaragua elected Chavez/Castro acolytes, leaving Colombia more and more isolated in the division.

In 2002, Colombia elected Alvaro Uribe, and the nation has been climbing steadily up lacking of the mire ever since. A fortified police force and military have taken on the FARC through, as today's headlines certify, fearful success. Kidnappings, USA Today reports, are down by 78 percent and murders by 37 percent while 32,000 paramilitaries have been disbanded. With greater security has come economic improvement. But the gains are still fragile.

The Bush the ministry staunchly supports Uribe, and has proposed a in two sides free trade agreement. Unions and their poodles among the leadership of the Democratic Party accept balked, throwing up one acquit after another to block the deal. Colombia needed to persuade worker rights issues. They complied. They needed to assure that strict environmental standards were included. They agreed. Now the Democratic leadership in Congress is insisting that Colombia demonstrate greater progress in quelling violence against trade unionists. (For a summation of the Democrats' place, you need alone corresponding cipher out the Teamsters Union radio ad against the treaty.) The Democrats have delayed consideration of the bill again.

You might suppose, based on the Teamsters' vehemence, that the treaty would do good to Colombian interests. But no, 90 percent of Colombian goods already enter this country duty free, while on the contrary U.S. exporters pay significant tariffs to get our goods into Colombia. Like other release carry on commerce agreements, this one would benefit the pair sides — but-end it would exist a particularly timely show of support for a country that deserves it. Uribe is an articulate believer in the free market at a time when stale Marxism is enjoying a revival in Latin America. More than that, he has demonstrated courage and use stratagem in battling the terrorists and drug lords who had made life nearly unbearable. If the Democrats succeed in scuttling the free employment agreement, they will be putting a finger in the eye of our best ally in the region — and handing Hugo Chavez a victory.

To find finished more about Mona Charen and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, inspect the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.

Previous: Democrats Disdain Our Best Latin American Ally
Original text: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oped/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/uc/20080704/cm_uc_crmchx/op_56617