Wings of a Bird

The short road from hostage to envoy - MSNBC
Colombia's new foreign minister says 6-year ordeal may be asset for job
Just weeks ago, Fernando Araújo's only connection to the outside world was his shortwave radio. In six years as a hostage of Marxist rebels, his life had been reduced to a grim routine of forced marches, a diet of soggy beans and rice and the realization that freedom might never come.
Now, after a confused and miraculous dash to freedom that has captivated Colombians, Araújo has become foreign minister, a critical post in a country highly dependent on foreign aid, especially from Washington. When President Bush arrives here on Sunday to meet with President Álvaro Uribe, he will also meet a man who is a potent symbol for the hundreds of hostages, including three Americans, still in rebel hands.
"I'm not a symbol of kidnapping," Araújo explained. "I'm a symbol of liberty."
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He also had to face what he long feared -- that his wife had left him, a revelation he called his first painful blow since emerging from the bush haggard and dehydrated on Jan. 5.
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He also had to face what he long feared -- that his wife had left him, a revelation he called his first painful blow since emerging from the bush haggard and dehydrated on Jan. 5.