Former American FARC Hostages Speak About Being In Captivity For Five Years (SLIDESHOW, VIDEO)

What was it really like inside a Colombian jungle prison camp? The three former US hostages are sharing eerie photos from their new book Out of Captivity: Surviving 1,967 Days in the Colombian Jungle which details their hellish plane crash, life under the ruthless rule of FARC terrorists, and the dramatic end to their ordeal, when they were freed last July along with a dozen other hostages including former Colombian Presidential Candidate Ingrid Betancourt.

• • • • • • This is a pathway leading to a meeting area at an abandoned FARC camp. With the rainy season taking up much of the year, the FARC commonly make walkways using sand from nearby rivers and trees. Over time we learned to read their construction habits to help us figure out how long we would be staying at a given camp. The more construction that occurred, the longer our stay might be.

Watch the three former U-S hostages, and co-authors, Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell and Tom Howes describe the emotional highs and lows of their harrowing experience.

Check out Marc Gonsalves' blog on what he thinks should happen to his former captors.

And here's a link to the book, Out of Captivity: Surviving 1,967 Days in the Colombian Jungle, By Marc Gonsalves, Tom Howes, Keith Stansell, Gary Brozek.

Comments

[EHarold]

07:14 PM on 03/06/2009

"If they do it, it's terrorism, if we do it, it's fighting for freedom." - Anthony Quainton, U.S. Ambassador to Nicaragua, 1984: Anthony Quainton - Source: Off the record response of the Ambassador to a group of concerned U.S. citizens when asked to explain the difference between U.S. government actions in Nicaragua and the violence it condemns as terrorism elsewhere in the world.

[EHarold]

06:39 PM on 03/06/2009

See it's funny because anyone who has a view that isn't aligned with ours is automatically deemed a terrorist.. Hezbollah,Hamas,Fatah,FARC,Iranian Republican Guards,Taliban..etc etc

Of course we're not a terrorist organization.. No,no dropping sophisticated weaponry that these guys couldn't even dream of on people isn't terror.. It's.. what is it again..OH right.. "Spreading Democracy"

"One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter"

[Ergon]

06:37 PM on 03/06/2009

W u ss

[gcallaghan]

06:05 PM on 03/06/2009

Anybody who travels outside the US shouldn't expect to find the American justice system to protect them. What part of this is it that these guys can't get?

[stingerthesurf]

06:00 PM on 03/06/2009

Heard something about one of their fellow prisoners the lady made it difficult for them while they were being held hostage.
Bet the media won't pick up on any of that.

[UltraClassic]

05:38 PM on 03/06/2009

I am really looking forward to the FARC excuse makers who frequent this site in rather large numbers. They always have an angle on things like this.

[TrooAmerican]

05:31 PM on 03/06/2009

It would be nice, but our justice system cant even get our US citizen white collar criminals to ever face justice, so how would we get foreigners to ever face justice here.