Hostage Nation

Colombia's Guerrilla Army and the Failed War on Drugs

By: Victoria Bruce, Karin Hayes, Jorge Enrique Botero

Narrated by: Yetta Gottesman

Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

The crash of a U.S. reconnaissance plane into the Colombian jungle on February 13, 2003, set off a series of events that, five years later, would bring three South American countries on a collision course toward war, pit a giant government contractor against its employer - the U.S. government - and catapult a 40-year-old guerrilla army to the international stage as one of the most active and successful terrorist organizations in the world.

Hostage Nation follows the players in this international drama in which lives interweave across a chaotic and deadly chessboard. While at first the case appeared to be a one-dimensional kidnapping of three American contractors that would play out in backdoor negotiations, as many had before, the paradigm shift that took over Washington after 9/11 made impossible any such path to win the freedom of the hostages.

This is the story of Thomas Howes, Keith Stansell, and Marc Gonsalves, three Americans who went to work for the U.S. government's ill-fought "War on Drugs" and crash-landed into their worst nightmare, five years in captivity of the FARC rebel Army. It is the story of Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, poster child for all the prisoners in Colombia. It is the story of corporate malfeasance by Northrop Grumman, one of the largest defense contractors in America. It is the story of a paradigm shift that turned poor Colombian guerrillas into the biggest drug mafia in the world and earned them a prominent position on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations.

This is also a fascinating expose about the way that civilian soldiers have become the main players in covert wars that fly under the radar of the American people. It is the story of the U.S. government's ambivalence concerning victims who don't have to be tallied on the nightly news. It is the story of fragmented government factions that refuse to work together, and of foreign-policy blunders that put government contracts above American lives. It is the story of lives unraveling, of abandoned women and children, and of feuding families. And it is a revealing truth about the disastrous failure of the war on drugs that began back in 1970.

©2010 Victoria Bruce and Karin Hayes (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"[A] thrilling account of the origins and workings of the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia).... [T]he authors real achievement is their objectivity - no book published in the U.S. in the last decade details the activities of the FARC, the Colombian and U.S. military, the flailing war on drugs, and President Alvaro Uribe's administration in such a well-rounded and unbiased way, covering recent history from so many perspectives." ( Publishers Weekly)

Biased, but interesting...

I purchased this audiobook as I had deployed in support of the recovery efforts of the three American contractors on multiple occasions prior to their rescue and repatriation. The authors use an obvious anti-US approach in the writing and, it seems, they relied on source material based on how it supported their biased views. The book is very interesting and engaging, but it also works to legitimize Jorge Enrique Botero's related works and actions and does so from a third-person approach. Yet, it is obvious that Botero is largely responsible for the parts of the book that slant all of his actions and interactions with the FARC in a positive light. A lot of the assumptions and conclusions on US involvement prior to and during the rescue are wrong. The primary reason is not the fault of the authors: US Special Operations are either covert or clandestine. If they are the latter, US involvement is hidden, denied, and concealed. The second reason, I believe, is because a positive slant on any US involvement in this book goes against the authors' pre-conceived biases. They also rely too much on the conclusions of a hostage negotiations consultant who - in the end - had little to do with the rescue operation and repatriation. I still recommend this book. It is well written - for the most part. But, read it knowing that it is biased and should be balanced with multiple sources.

Not what I was expecting

At this point very slow, I'm 4hrs in and can't take it. I have stopped and went back a couple days in a row. I just can't get into the book, I thought it would be more on saving the hostages and not giving history of this and that. I do respect the writers, it's not my cup of tea.