Red Cross says Colombian rebels have freed a captive soldier

Red Cross: Colombian rebels freed captive soldier

VILLAVICENCIO, Colombia — Colombian rebels released a soldier to the International Red Cross on Sunday after holding him for almost a year in captivity.

Red Cross spokesman Adolfo Beteta said 23-year-old Pvt. Josue Daniel Calvo was in the hands of the humanitarian group and heading home.

Beteta spoke to reporters at the airport in the city of Villavicencio, where a Brazilian helicopter emblazoned with the Red Cross logo took off earlier Sunday bound for the undisclosed hand-over point in the Colombian jungle.

He said officials “have no worrying news” about the health of Calvo, who according to the rebels has been suffering from an unknown ailment. He was captured on April 20, 2009, by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

Peace commissioner Frank Pearl said Calvo would be taken to a military hospital in the capital, Bogota, upon arrival.

Calvo is the first FARC captive to be released since early 2009, when the guerrillas handed over two politicians and four soldiers who had spent more than six years in the custody of the rebels.

Piedad Cordoba, the opposition senator leading the rescue mission, says the FARC will turn over another soldier early next week: Sgt. Pablo Emilio Moncayo, 32, who has been held for 12 years.

The FARC then intends to halt unilateral releases and press its old demand for talks with the government on exchanging jailed rebels for the 20 or so police and soldiers still in captivity, according to Cordoba.

Moncayo’s father became famous for walking halfway across Colombia to press for his son’s release.