The Marxist insurgents have claimed that the journalists "are in good health and will be released." Observers have expressed concerns that the kidnappings could undermine peace talks launched in February.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/L. Robayo
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The leftist Colombian rebel group National Liberation Army (ELN) on Thursday claimed responsibility for kidnapping two Dutch journalists, promising to surrender them to authorities within days.
Dutch journalist Derk Johannes Bolt and cameraman Eugenio Ernest Marie Follender, who were searching for the biological mother of a Colombian child adopted by a Dutch couple, "are in good health and will be released," the Marxist rebels said in a statement published on Twitter.
The two men were captured in El Tarra in the restive Norte de Santander region near the Venezuelan border, the same area where a Colombian-Spanish journalist was kidnapped in May.
In February, the Colombian government began peace talks with the rebel group, which launched its insurgency more than 50 years ago.
Observers have questioned whether the kidnapping was aimed at gaining political leverage, a maneuver used often by the last active rebel group in the country.
Dialogue moves forward
However, Norte de Santander Governor William Villamizar said the release "does not affect the dialogue being carried out with the ELN."
He added that Colombian authorities had launched a humanitarian operation to "allow the Dutch journalists to be delivered by the ELN."
Roughly 2,000 men and women form the ELN. Since the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) signed a peace agreement with the Colombian government last year, ELN has become the largest insurgent group in the Andean country.
The US State Department and the European Union consider the ELN a terrorist group for its active involvement in kidnappings, attacks on Colombian infrastructure and breaches of humanitarian law.
Latin America's longest armed conflict comes to an end
The Colombian government has reached a historic truce with FARC, ending over half a century of violence with the leftist group. Latin America's longest conflict claimed at least 220,000 lives.
Image: Reuters/A. Meneghini
How the insurgency started
In 1948, the assassination of populist leader Jorge Eliecer Gaitan sparked political chaos in Colombia known as "the violence." Tens of thousands died and peasant groups joined with communists to arm themselves. Later in 1964, a military attack on the insurgency's main encampment led to the creation of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
What the rebels wanted
FARC's political ideology has never been well defined. Initially, it sought to weaken the oligarchy's grip on power. The rebels also wanted land reforms in a country where more than 5 million people have been forcibly displaced, mostly by far-right militias. However, the group lost popularity as it turned to kidnapping and illegal gold mining for funds.
Image: Reuters
How the US got involved
To help the Colombian security forces fight against the insurgency and to counter drug-trafficking, the US began sending billions of dollars under Plan Colombia. The US State Department classifies the group as a terrorist organization and its leaders face US indictments.
Image: Reuters/J. Vizcaino
The human cost of the conflict
Latin America's longest-running armed conflict is responsible for the death an estimated 220,000 people, while millions of Colombians have been displaced within their country. According to Bogota’s estimates, there are 7.6 million direct and indirect victims of the conflict. The country has more landmine victims than any country except for Afghanistan.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Escobar Mora
Peace accord after decades of failed attempts
Peace talks between FARC and the government collapsed in the mid 1980s after at least 3,000 allies of FARC's political wing Patriotic Union Party were killed at the hands of right-wing paramilitaries. Efforts fell short again in 2002 after the rebels hijacked an airliner to kidnap a senator. The latest round of talks started in 2012 in Havana and culminated on August 24, 2016 with a deal.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/E. Abramovich
50 years of conflict
"We have reached a final, integral and definitive agreement" to end the conflict and build a stable, lasting peace, the government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the left-wing Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia said in a joint statement. In June, the negotiators had already announced a cease-fire agreement and a blueprint for how the estimated 7,000 to 8,000 fighters will demobilize.
