Gerardo Aguilar Ramírez

Infobox Military Person
name= Gerardo Aguilar Ramírez
lived=


caption=
nickname=César
born=
placeofbirth=
placeofdeath=
allegiance=Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)
Communism
branch= Eastern Bloc's 1st Front
serviceyears= ? - 2008 (Captured)
rank= Chief of 1st Bloc and in charge of political hostages
unit=
commands=
battles= Colombian Armed Conflict
awards=
relations=
laterwork=

Gerardo Aguilar Ramírez, known by his "nom de guerre" César, was a Colombian guerrilla leader, member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). He was the commander of the Eastern Bloc's 1st Front. For 5 years he was in charge of the hostages, including former presidential candidate Íngrid Betancourt.cite news |title=Carefully planned Colombia rescue exploited FARC weaknesses |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/04/america/colombia.php |publisher=IHT |date=2008-07-04] On July 2, 2008, the hostages were liberated in Operation Jaque and César was arrested.cite news |title=Colombia's Stunning Hostage Rescue |url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1819862,00.html |publisher=TIME |date=2008-07-02]

On July 4, 2008, "Radio Suisse Romande" reported that unnamed "reliable sources" had told it the rescue took place after a payment of USD 20 million by the United States. [cite news|publisher=Radio Suisse Romande|date=4 July 2008|url=http://info.rsr.ch/fr/news/Une_liberation_achetee.html?siteSect=2010&sid=9296405&cKey=1215168451000|language=French|title=Une libération achetée] According to "Le Monde", the French Foreign Ministry denied the payment of any ransom by France. [cite news|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/ameriques/article/2008/07/04/ingrid-betancourt-est-attendue-a-paris_1066575_3222.html|title=Ingrid Betancourt à Paris : "Aujourd'hui, je pleure de joie"|publisher=Le Monde|language=French|date=4 July 2008]

Frederich Blassel, the author of the "Radio Suisse Romande" story, told Colombia's "W Radio" that, according to his source, the release was not negotiated directly with FARC but with alias César, one of the two guerrillas captured during the operation, who would have received the payment of USD 20 million. According to Blassel, the two rebels could be given new identities by Spain, France, and Switzerland. [cite news|url=http://www.wradio.com.co/nota.asp?id=626562|title=Alias César recibió 20 millones de dólares por entregar secuestrados: Radio Suiza |publisher=W Radio|language=Spanish|date=4 July 2008] [cite news|url=http://actualidad.terra.es/nacional/articulo/periodista-suiza-radio-afirma-pago-2596725.htm|title=Periodista de radio Suiza afirma que se pagó por liberar a los rehenes|publisher=Terra Actualidad, EFE|language=Spanish|date=4 July 2008]

According to Colombia's "El Tiempo" and "W Radio", General Fredy Padilla de León, Commander of the Colombian Armed Forces, denied the existence of any payment by the Colombian government. General Padilla argued that if any payment had been made, it would have been better to make it publicly known, to use it as an incentive and to cause confusion within FARC's ranks. [cite news|url=http://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/justicia/2008-07-04/no-se-pago-por-rescate-de-secuestrados-afirma-el-comandante-de-las-fuerzas-militares_4361595-1|title=No se pagó por rescate de secuestrados, afirma el comandante de las Fuerzas Militares|publisher=El Tiempo|language=Spanish|date=4 July 2008] [cite news|url=http://www.wradio.com.co/nota.asp?id=626591|title=Fuerzas Militares no pagaron por rescate de 15 secuestrados |publisher=W Radio|language=Spanish|date=4 July 2008] William Brownfield, the U.S. ambassador to Colombia, also denied the allegations. [cite news |title=US denies ransom payout for hostage release: ambassador |url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hrtoMw97SlVA2m-B0SfinVDaE1vg |publisher=Agence France-Presse |date=2008-07-04 |accessdate=2008-07-04]

References