Alvaro Uribe Brings His A-Game

Recently, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez tried to leverage his ties with FARC to free onetime Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and other hostages, hoping that securing the release of such a high-profile hostage would earn brownie points for his Bolivarian regime. (His intervention led to the January release of Betancourt's running mate, Clara Rojas.) Chavez undoubtedly also wanted to embarass Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, an ally of the United States and Chavez's foe, by reaping the positive P.R. of the release and by showing that the FARC, who share Chavez's general leftist ideology, could somehow be reasoned with and have a future in Colombia.

But today, Uribe is holding all of the cards. Along with knocking out FARC leaders, Uribe's government staged an ingenious rescue operation on Wednesday to extract Betancourt, three U.S. military contractors, and 11 Colombian soldiers and policemen -- without spilling a drop of blood. All it took was some Che Guevara T-shirts and acting classes for Uribe's commandos, a FARC turncoat, and a lot of patience to wait for the right moment to launch the operation.

Chavez said he called Uribe to congratulate him, though it wasn't that long ago that Chavez was talking armed conflict with Colombia over a strike on FARC targets just inside the Ecuador border. The Associated Press has a good analysis of how Uribe's rescue sidelines Chavez in his wanton increased role in dealing with Latin America's oldest left-wing rebel group. Al-Jazeera's analysis states the rescue is "the ultimate justification for (Uribe's) policy of refusing to negotiate for the release of the hostages, and insisting on a military solution."

(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)