Diana Turbay:-PART3

After reading the letter, Pablo's sister-in-law said that she was sure he'd be moved by its content. "Everything you're doing touches him, and that can only work in your daughter's favour." She sealed the letter. "Don't worry. Pablo will have the letter today."

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Returning to Bogotá, Nydia was convinced that the letter would achieve its desired effect. As Dr Turbay hadn't asked the president to stop the police from searching for the hostages, she decided to do so. The president declined, believing that it was OK to offer an alternative judicial policy to the Extraditables, but ceasing police operations meant stopping the hunt for Pablo. Enraged, she listened to the president harp on about the police not needing permission to act, and that he couldn't order them not to act within the limits of the law. She felt that the president didn't care about Diana's life.

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The families of the hostages formed a group called the Notables, which included two former presidents. After lengthy discussions, they decided to adopt the strategy of the Extraditables by issuing public letters. In the hope of achieving progress in the negotiations, they proposed that trafficking become a collective unique crime, and the traffickers be treated as political offenders, just like the M-19.

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Pablo's interest had been piqued. One of his lawyers asked the Notables to obtain a presidential letter guaranteeing his life, but they refused to ask the president.

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The Notables issued a letter redefining themselves: "Our good offices have acquired a new dimension, not limited to an occasional rescue, but concerned with how to achieve peace for all Colombians."

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The president approved, but made his position clear: the capitulation policy was the government's only position on the surrender of the Extraditables.

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Enraged, Pablo sent a letter to Guido Parra: "The letter from the Notables is almost cynical. We are supposed to release the hostages quickly because the government is dragging its feet as it studies our situation. Can they really believe we will let ourselves be deceived again?" Since their first letter, the Extraditables' position hadn't changed "There was no reason to change it, since we have not received positive replies to the requests made in our first communication. This is a negotiation, not a game to find out who is clever and who is stupid."

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In a letter to Guido Parra, Pablo detailed his goal of having the government grant him a secure prison camp. While negotiating their surrender terms, the M-19 had achieved this.

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He'd already chosen a location. "Since this requires money, the Extraditables would assume the costs… I'm telling you all this because I want you to talk to the mayor of Envigado, and tell him you represent me and explain the idea to him. But the reason I want you to talk to him is to get him to write a public letter to the justice minister saying he thinks the Extraditables have not accepted Decree 2047 because they fear for their safety, and that the municipality of Envigado, as its contribution to peace for the Colombian people, is prepared to build a special prison that will offer protection and security to those who surrender. Talk to him in a direct clear way, so he'll talk to Gaviria [the president] and propose the camp." Pablo wanted a public response from the justice minister. "I know that will have the impact of a bomb.. This way we'll have them where we want them."

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After the minister said no, Pablo offered more, including resolving trafficker conflicts, guaranteeing that more than a hundred traffickers would surrender and an end to the war.

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"We are not asking for amnesty or dialogue or any of the things they say they cannot give." He wanted to get on with surrendering "while everybody in this country is calling for dialogue and for treating us as politicals. I have no problem with extradition since I know that if they take me alive they'll kill me, like they've done with everybody else."

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Diana's father and some of the Notables confronted Pablo's lawyer. "Don't fuck with me. Let's get to the point. You've stalled everything because your demands are moronic, and there's only one damn thing at issue here: your boys have to turn themselves in and confess to some crime that they can serve a twelve-year sentence for. That's what the law says, period. And in exchange for that, they'll get a reduced sentence and a guarantee of protection. All the rest is bullshit."

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"Look, Doctor," Guido Parra said, "the thing is that the government says they won't be extradited, everybody says so, but where does the decree say it specifically?"

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They agreed that Decree 2047 needed to be revised because it was too open to interpretation.

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"How soon after the decree is amended will the hostages be released?"

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"They'll be free in twenty-four hours," Guido Parra said.

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"All of them, of course?"

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"'All of them."

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On November 26, 1990 - the beginning of the fourth month of Diana's captivity - Pablo decided to release one of Diana's team. When the guards told Juan Vitta he was being freed due to illness, he thought that he was being tricked into going somewhere to be shot.

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"Shave and put on clean clothes."

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After dressing, he was instructed on what to say to the police and the media. If he gave any clues about his location, which led to a rescue operation, the other hostages would be killed. He was blindfolded and transported on a maze-like journey through Medellín. His captors left him on a street corner.

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Another of Diana's colleagues, Hero Buss, was told he would be freed on December 11. The owners of his house of captivity were a couple who spent their bags of expense money provided by Pablo on constant parties and lavish dinners, attended by assorted family members and friends. They'd treated the large German as a celebrity, having seen him on TV. At least thirty visitors had posed for photos with him, obtained his autograph and even feasted and danced with him. At a time when the couple had no money and the wife of the house had gone into labour, Hero Buss had lent them 50,000 pesos for her hospital bill.

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The day of his freedom, they returned his camera equipment and paid him back the 50,000 pesos plus 15,000 pesos for an earlier loan. Unable to find the correct shoes for his large feet, they got him a small pair that didn't fit. He'd lost thirty-five pounds, so they bought him a shirt and trousers smaller than those he wore before captivity. His only wish that they'd never granted was his request to interview Pablo.

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Carrying his bags on his back, he was left By the headquarters of a newspaper, El Colombiano, with a letter from the Extraditables, praising his human rights activism and emphasising that the capitulation policy should guarantee the safety of the Extraditables and their families. The first thing he did was ask a passer-by to take his photo.

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The release of two hostages lifted Diana's spirits, which were further boosted when the guards told her and her companion, Azucena, that they were next. But as they'd heard that before, part of them refused to believe it. Assuming that one would be freed before the other, they each wrote a letter for the other to deliver to their family.

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On December 13, whispers and noise in the house roused Diana, who leapt out of bed, expecting to be freed. Suddenly energised, she woke Azucena, and they both packed. While Diana showered, a guard told Azucena that only she was going. Azucena got dressed.

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After emerging from the shower, Diana gazed at her companion, her eyes glistening with anticipation. "Are we going, Azu?"

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