Opération 14 juillet
Encyclopedia
L'Opération 14 juillet was a failed French operation to rescue Ingrid Betancourt
from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
(FARC) in July 2003. Organized by French Foreign Minister
Dominique de Villepin
, the mission failed to make contact with FARC guerrillas and eventually returned home. After details of the operation leaked in the Brazilian press, a political scandal erupted in France.
, was taken hostage by the FARC in February 2002 after traveling into the Colombian demilitarized zone. Betancourt had lived and studied in Paris as well as married a Frenchman, and the hostage situation received widespread media coverage in France.
to quickly call Betancourt's mother, Yolanda Pulecio
, to come meet him. Pulecio and her daughter, Astrid Betancourt, immediately came to Uribe's office where they met the contact, who told them to go to Leticia, Colombia on 5 July and wait for further instructions.
Astrid contacted the French government on 8 July, and Dominique de Villepin, then Minister of Foreign Affairs, charged senior advisor on Latin America
and deputy chief of staff Pierre-Henri Guignard to plan a rescue mission. Villepin had taught Ingrid at the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris
in the early 1980s, and had been a close friend of her and Astrid since.
(DGSE) personnel boarded a C-130 Hercules
transport in Évreux
for the Brazil
ian city Manaus
, landing the next day. The group decided to bring along medical supplies, and possibly crates of dollars and weapons.
At the same time, Astrid Betancourt and Ingrid's second husband Juan Carlos Lecompte followed the initial FARC instructions to go to Leticia. A Catholic Priest named Father Gonzalo had come along with the family to act as an intermediary and to bring them by riverboat to San Antonio de Ica, where FARC was to make contact. Yet the FARC never initiated contact with the group, so Astrid decided to return to Leticia and wait. Astrid later stated that she had waited from 5 July to 14 July on the border with Brazil.
Soon after landing in in Manaus, Brazilian federal police asked to perform a normal check of the aircraft, but were denied after the group claimed diplomatic immunity
. The following day, four members of the group, including Guignard, a doctor, and two intelligence agents, paid US$5,900 for a roundtrip flight to Sao Paulo de Olivena under the notion that they were on a hiking trip; others in the group were seen going to the Hotel Tropical with metal cases. The four-man French group was under police watch the moment it left, for the airline company, Rico, was contracted by Brazilian police and worked as an informant. Upon landing the team took a water taxi
to the Flamingo hotel, and Guignard subsequently went to find Father Pedro, a priest who was to help the rescue mission.
In the meantime, Cleilton de Abreu, the pilot of the chartered Caraja aircraft, grew suspicious that the group wanted to seize and divert his aircraft, for he had been asked by the Frenchmen whether the plane was able to land in rough terrain and whether he had ever flown at night. De Abreu decided to fly to a nearby town and alert police, who assured him that the group was under surveillance and that he should return back to Sao Paulo de Olivena.
On 11 July the French group in Sao Paulo de Olivena flew back to Manaus after no sign of Betancourt, only to be detained by Brazilian federal police upon arrival. Once again claiming diplomatic immunity, the only information they divulged was the address of the DGSE headquarters in Paris. Two days later the French C-130 left Manaus for France in the early afternoon.
in Manaus on 9 July and left on 13 July bound for French Guiana. The magazine published a photo of the aircraft, and reported that Brazilian police requests for more information had been rebuffed by the passengers who claimed diplomatic immunity. Carta Capital also suggested that arms were to be exchanged for Betancourt's freedom.
, who was abroad at the time, said that "this kind of operation would not have happened without me being informed, and I was not informed." The Elysée
repeated to Le Monde
that he was not informed of the attempt. Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, also abroad at the time, released a similar denial. However, after being presented with the photographs of the C-130, the men claimed that the mission was planned "at the highest level of government." The spokesperson for the Elysée also stated that Chirac gave his agreement in principle to the Betancourt family's request to send a medical plane.
Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy
, who was also unaware of the operation, was on an official trip to Colombia when news leaked. Following the revelations, he confirmed that there was an attempted mission to "obtain information on her state of health." "When the family of a person who has been a hostage for more than a year tells you that there is a chance to save her, it is necessary to seize it."
Both Brazil and Colombia denied knowing about the operation, with Colombia particularly worried over the possibility of French negotiations with FARC. Foreign Minister Villepin, who organized the mission, came under harsh criticism for the operation; the Brazilian deputy foreign minister accused him of giving false information, and a Brazilian deputy said they "would do better not to treat us like one of their African colonies."
According to Astrid Betancourt, Villepin had in fact alerted Brazilian authorities about the mission, something Brazil denied. She also said that she asked for the Colombian authorities not to be warned so as not to hinder the rescue.
Íngrid Betancourt
Ingrid Betancourt Pulecio is a Colombian politician, former senator and anti-corruption activist.Betancourt was kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia on 23 February 2002 and was rescued by Colombian security forces six and a half years later on 2 July 2008...
from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army is a Marxist–Leninist revolutionary guerrilla organization based in Colombia which is involved in the ongoing Colombian armed conflict, currently involved in drug dealing and crimes against the civilians..FARC-EP is a peasant army which...
(FARC) in July 2003. Organized by French Foreign Minister
Minister of Foreign Affairs (France)
Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs ), is France's foreign affairs ministry, with the headquarters located on the Quai d'Orsay in Paris close to the National Assembly of France. The Minister of Foreign and European Affairs in the government of France is the cabinet minister responsible for...
Dominique de Villepin
Dominique de Villepin
Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin is a French politician who served as the Prime Minister of France from 31 May 2005 to 17 May 2007....
, the mission failed to make contact with FARC guerrillas and eventually returned home. After details of the operation leaked in the Brazilian press, a political scandal erupted in France.
Background
Ingrid Betancourt, a French-Colombian citizen and candidate in the 2002 Colombian presidential electionColombian presidential election, 2002
Presidential elections were held in Colombia on 26 May 2002. They were won by Álvaro Uribe. Íngrid Betancourt, the candidate for the Oxygen Green Party, was kidnapped while campaigning. She was rescued safely in July 2008, six and a half years later....
, was taken hostage by the FARC in February 2002 after traveling into the Colombian demilitarized zone. Betancourt had lived and studied in Paris as well as married a Frenchman, and the hostage situation received widespread media coverage in France.
Contact
In early July 2003 a peasant from Putumayo approached Colombian security officials claiming to be a FARC intermediary. The peasant stated that FARC might soon free Betancourt for she was sick, leading Colombian President Álvaro UribeÁlvaro Uribe
Alvaro Uribe Vélez was the 58th President of Colombia, from 2002 to 2010. In August 2010 he was appointed Vice-chairman of the UN panel investigating the Gaza flotilla raid....
to quickly call Betancourt's mother, Yolanda Pulecio
Yolanda Pulecio
Yolanda Pulecio Vélez also known as "Mamá Yolanda" is a Colombian former beauty queen turned politician, former member of the Congress of Colombia and diplomat. Pulecio married former minister of finance and diplomat Gabriel Betancourt...
, to come meet him. Pulecio and her daughter, Astrid Betancourt, immediately came to Uribe's office where they met the contact, who told them to go to Leticia, Colombia on 5 July and wait for further instructions.
Astrid contacted the French government on 8 July, and Dominique de Villepin, then Minister of Foreign Affairs, charged senior advisor on Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
and deputy chief of staff Pierre-Henri Guignard to plan a rescue mission. Villepin had taught Ingrid at the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris
Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris
The Institut d'études politiques de Paris , simply referred to as Sciences Po , is a public research and higher education institution in Paris, France, specialised in the social sciences. It has the status of grand établissement, which allows its admissions process to be highly selective...
in the early 1980s, and had been a close friend of her and Astrid since.
Mission
On 8 July Pierre-Henri Guignard and an 11 person team of Direction Générale de la Securité ExterieureDirection générale de la sécurité extérieure
The General Directorate for External Security is France's external intelligence agency. Operating under the direction of the French ministry of defence, the agency works alongside the DCRI in providing intelligence and national security, notably by performing paramilitary and counterintelligence...
(DGSE) personnel boarded a C-130 Hercules
C-130 Hercules
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built originally by Lockheed, now Lockheed Martin. Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medical evacuation, and cargo transport...
transport in Évreux
Évreux
Évreux is a commune in the Eure department, of which it is the capital, in Haute Normandie in northern France.-History:In late Antiquity, the town, attested in the fourth century CE, was named Mediolanum Aulercorum, "the central town of the Aulerci", the Gallic tribe then inhabiting the area...
for the Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian city Manaus
Manaus
Manaus is a city in Brazil, the capital of the state of Amazonas. It is situated at the confluence of the Negro and Solimões rivers. It is the most populous city of Amazonas, according to the statistics of Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, and is a popular ecotourist destination....
, landing the next day. The group decided to bring along medical supplies, and possibly crates of dollars and weapons.
At the same time, Astrid Betancourt and Ingrid's second husband Juan Carlos Lecompte followed the initial FARC instructions to go to Leticia. A Catholic Priest named Father Gonzalo had come along with the family to act as an intermediary and to bring them by riverboat to San Antonio de Ica, where FARC was to make contact. Yet the FARC never initiated contact with the group, so Astrid decided to return to Leticia and wait. Astrid later stated that she had waited from 5 July to 14 July on the border with Brazil.
Soon after landing in in Manaus, Brazilian federal police asked to perform a normal check of the aircraft, but were denied after the group claimed diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity is a form of legal immunity and a policy held between governments that ensures that diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host country's laws...
. The following day, four members of the group, including Guignard, a doctor, and two intelligence agents, paid US$5,900 for a roundtrip flight to Sao Paulo de Olivena under the notion that they were on a hiking trip; others in the group were seen going to the Hotel Tropical with metal cases. The four-man French group was under police watch the moment it left, for the airline company, Rico, was contracted by Brazilian police and worked as an informant. Upon landing the team took a water taxi
Water taxi
A water taxi or water bus, also known as a commuter boat, is a watercraft used to provide public transport, usually but not always in an urban environment. Service may be scheduled with multiple stops, operating in a similar manner to a bus, or on demand to many locations, operating in a similar...
to the Flamingo hotel, and Guignard subsequently went to find Father Pedro, a priest who was to help the rescue mission.
In the meantime, Cleilton de Abreu, the pilot of the chartered Caraja aircraft, grew suspicious that the group wanted to seize and divert his aircraft, for he had been asked by the Frenchmen whether the plane was able to land in rough terrain and whether he had ever flown at night. De Abreu decided to fly to a nearby town and alert police, who assured him that the group was under surveillance and that he should return back to Sao Paulo de Olivena.
On 11 July the French group in Sao Paulo de Olivena flew back to Manaus after no sign of Betancourt, only to be detained by Brazilian federal police upon arrival. Once again claiming diplomatic immunity, the only information they divulged was the address of the DGSE headquarters in Paris. Two days later the French C-130 left Manaus for France in the early afternoon.
Revelation
On 19 July the Brazilian weekly Carta Capital was the first to report that a French military aircraft carrying 11 passengers had landed at the Eduardo Gomes International AirportEduardo Gomes International Airport
Brigadeiro Eduardo Gomes-Manaus International Airport , is the main airport serving Manaus, Brazil. It is named after the Brazilian politician and military figure Air Marshall Eduardo Gomes ....
in Manaus on 9 July and left on 13 July bound for French Guiana. The magazine published a photo of the aircraft, and reported that Brazilian police requests for more information had been rebuffed by the passengers who claimed diplomatic immunity. Carta Capital also suggested that arms were to be exchanged for Betancourt's freedom.
Political scandal
When first questioned about the operation, French President Jacques ChiracJacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
, who was abroad at the time, said that "this kind of operation would not have happened without me being informed, and I was not informed." The Elysée
Élysée Palace
The Élysée Palace is the official residence of the President of the French Republic, containing his office, and is where the Council of Ministers meets. It is located near the Champs-Élysées in Paris....
repeated to Le Monde
Le Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
that he was not informed of the attempt. Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, also abroad at the time, released a similar denial. However, after being presented with the photographs of the C-130, the men claimed that the mission was planned "at the highest level of government." The spokesperson for the Elysée also stated that Chirac gave his agreement in principle to the Betancourt family's request to send a medical plane.
Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
, who was also unaware of the operation, was on an official trip to Colombia when news leaked. Following the revelations, he confirmed that there was an attempted mission to "obtain information on her state of health." "When the family of a person who has been a hostage for more than a year tells you that there is a chance to save her, it is necessary to seize it."
Both Brazil and Colombia denied knowing about the operation, with Colombia particularly worried over the possibility of French negotiations with FARC. Foreign Minister Villepin, who organized the mission, came under harsh criticism for the operation; the Brazilian deputy foreign minister accused him of giving false information, and a Brazilian deputy said they "would do better not to treat us like one of their African colonies."
According to Astrid Betancourt, Villepin had in fact alerted Brazilian authorities about the mission, something Brazil denied. She also said that she asked for the Colombian authorities not to be warned so as not to hinder the rescue.