Former Congressman Óscar Tulio Lizcano spends his first night free and with his family

After running away, during three days and three nights, from the Farc guerrilla who held him kidnapped for eight years, Óscar Tulio Lizcano was found by an army brigade in the jungle of Chocó (in the north west of the country) yesterday. He and his warden, guerrilla commander known as alias ‘Isaza’ decided, to escape the ‘Aurelio Rodriguez’ front of the Farc, where Lizcano has been held captive, after as strong military operation went on for days to block all access ways to that guerrilla group.

28 year old ‘Isaza’ took on the risky task of guiding a very ill Lizcano to freedom while being closely followed by the guerilla. He was congratulated by President Álvaro Uribe who will reward him economically and will give him the chance of starting a new life in France.

Lizcano was very weak and was reported as being very sick with malaria and other illnesses while in captivity. For now he has been diagnosed with malnutrition and dehydration. After having said yesterday that his communication abilities were lessened by the prohibition he had of speaking with the people who kept him captive, he has spend most of today’s morning speaking with different media, especially Colombian radio stations. He has repeated many times that what kept him sane in the jungle was his love of poetry, writing to his wife and pretending trees and braches were a student filled classroom to which he gave lessons, just as he did at university before his kidnapping.