The former commander of the Colombian armed forces has denied allegations made in a new documentary that the government paid millions of dollars to the FARC in order to secure the release of Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other people.
General Fredy Padilla de Leon told el Espectador "not one cent was spent, not one cartrige was discharged, no one was hurt, and not one person was killed" during Operation Jaque, which took place in 2008. He added that "all of the captives at the site were rescued, and the two guards that were holding the hostages were captured and brought to justice."
This denial followed Colombia's prosecutor general's announcement that she will be looking into the allegations to see if they warrant a full investigation.
Former President Alvaro Uribe also reacted to the allegations made in the documentary "Operation Jaque: A Not So Perfect Move," labelling them offensive to the "intelligence and the professionalism of the armed forces."
