Authors: Victoria Bruce
Thanks to Tim O'Connell, associate editor, for helping us navigate the complex details of putting this book together over many months. And thank you to Maria Massey, production editor, and Carol Edwards, our copy editor, for your work in assembling our book, for making sure we've dotted all of our i's and crossed all of our t's, and much, much more.
When we initially began to cover the world of hostages in Colombia, César Pinzón, our cameraman on the documentary film
The Kidnapping of Ingrid Betancourt
, introduced us to Jorge Enrique Botero. For that, we owe César a debt of gratitude. This book would have been impossible without Botero's years of travel to the jungle and his coverage of Colombia's civil war. Thank you to our colleagues in Colombia: Mayra RodrÃguez, Mauricio Mesa, Humberto Pinzón, Freddy Cusgüen, EfraÃn Bahamón, and Angela Botero. An additional thanks to EfraÃn and Angela for your kindness in hosting us on many occasions, and for the hours spent on transcriptions and translations for this book. Many people in the United States shared our desire to raise public awareness about the tragic hostage situation from the outset. Thank you, Richard Pleppler, Sheila Nevins, Geof Bartz, Lisa Heller, and Sara Bernstein at HBO; Diana Holtzberg, Jan Rofekamp, and John Nadai at Films Transit International, Inc.; CBS
60 Minutes II;
the History Channel; the History Channel en Español; the Sundance Channel; and Justin Loeber at Mouth Public Relations. We are grateful to you all for working with us to bring the situation further to light.
To all of the people we interviewed for this book, including those whose names we cannot reveal: We are ever grateful for your time, and for the stories, insights, and knowledge you shared with us. An especially generous thanks to Gary Noesner, who not only agreed to be interviewed numerous times for the book but who organized our initial meeting with the FBI, Northrop Grumman executives, and the State Department when we presented them with the proof-of-life video footage of the three American hostages. Your guidance throughout was indispensable.
To Jo Rosano, the first family member to go public about the situation of the American hostages, who continued to reach out to the media throughout the five-and-a-half-year ordeal: Your trust in us to record
that first special interview began a journey for us all. We greatly admire your courage, strong will, and unwavering strength.
To Adam Isacson and Sanho Tree, who have worked on Colombian issues for years: Thank you for sharing your expertise with us. Both of you have been invaluable resources. And thank you, Sanho, for working with us at the outset so we could speak to U.S. Congress members about the hostage situation.
Barbara Bruce, thank you for your willingness to read and edit our drafts again and again. Your attention to detail helped us when our eyes were too tired to see the mistakes. Barbara Gray and Lisa Tradup, we thank you not only for being supportive friends but also for your willingness to help us find buried pieces of research, and for your immediate attention to our frantic last-minute requests. Juliana, Alejandro, and Primavera, what would we have done without your help? Thank you for the hours spent on transcriptions, photo research, and general assistance (including reminding your dad to return our calls).
Carlos Villalón and Karl Penhaul, we thank you for your insights, journalistic guidance, and comforting presence in Bogotá. And to Carlos, as well as to Scott Dalton, Claudia Rubio, Felipe Caicedo, and Salud Hernández-Mora: We are honored to be able to include some of your outstanding photographs in our book. Heather Powell Crowder, thank you for your time and generosity in creating our terrific author photos. Hugo de Coloumme, we can't thank you enough for your incredible agility at cutting through red tape, for your language expertise, and for the numerous connections you helped us make. In you we have found a true friend. Tereaz, we greatly appreciate your love and support, which helped us with some of the most difficult challenges in this project.
Thank you, Paul and Alex, for being so understanding of our last-minute travels, trips that extended from days into weeks, and of our unannounced guests, who lived with us for indeterminate periods of time. Your love, support, trusted advice, and encouragement keep us going. To our families, whose love and willingness to lend a hand means more than we can express: Joe and Barb, Paula and Roger, Tim (thank you for all of the flights), Uncle Jim, Evelyn, and Catalina. And to our friends, thank you for standing by us through the many twists and turns
of this long journey, for always inquiring about the current state of the hostages, and for asking if there was anything you could do to help. We love you all.
Words cannot fully express how grateful we are that the long years of captivity are finally over for those who have been rescued or who have escaped. To all of those who are still being held hostage in Colombia, we anxiously await news of your freedom.
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