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Lawmaker Escapes Rebel Camp After 8 Years

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 27, 2008

BOGOTA - A 62-year-old lawmaker held captive eight years by leftist rebels walked to freedom in a western Colombia jungle on Sunday along with the young guerrilla commander who had been his jailer.

Oscar Tulio Lizcano is the first Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia hostage to gain freedom since the July 2 rescue of former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three U.S. military contractors.

His escape is yet another blow to Latin America's last major rebel army, which is battling record desertions under withering pressure from Colombia's U.S.-backed military.

The white-bearded Lizcano encountered a military road checkpoint three days after escaping with the leader of the unit that held him.
Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said the escape followed the Oct. 10 desertion of a second rebel, alias "Moroco," from the camp where Lizcano was being held. He said that guerrilla disclosed Lizcano's precise whereabouts to authorities, who already had a rough idea of the location and had been strangling the rebels' supply routes.

The Associated Press

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