Did BushCo Pay FARC $20 Million For The Hostages?

That’s what Forbes is reporting:

PARIS (Thomson Financial) – Leaders of the Colombian FARC rebel movement were paid millions of dollars to free Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages, Swiss radio said on Friday, quoting ‘a reliable source’.

The 15 hostages released on Wednesday by the Colombian army ‘were in reality ransomed for a high price, and the whole operation afterwards was a set-up,’ the radio’s French-language channel said.

Saying the United States, which had three of its citizens among those freed, was behind the deal, it put the price of the ransom at some $20 million.

The London Times and the Daily Mail also mention this alleged deal.

Wonder if this will crack the front pages of our daily papers — or make the evening newscasts?

07/05/08 UPDATE: Barb at Lucky White Girl suggests that the French were the ones to pony up the ransom, as they cared more about freeing Ingrid Betancourt than the Bush Junta cared about freeing American citizens. The marked apparent improvement in Betancourt’s health since the last video may be an indication that the French had been getting food and medicine to her for months before the ‘rescue’.