A deserter from a Colombian guerrilla army has led an Ecuadoran hostage to freedom.
The rebel, whose name was not released, led Orlando Sigifredo Ibarra Sarmiento on a four-hour walk to reach troops in southwestern Colombia, the navy said in a communique as it presented the freed man before reporters Monday.
It did not identify the rebel from the National Liberation Army.
Ibarra, wearing a long black beard, said the rebels were preparing to move when “a comrade, an envoy of God, came up ... and told me, ‘Brother, would you like to go home?’ ... And I said, ‘Let’s do it.’”
He said they walked until reaching a cellular phone signal and called the navy, which quickly sent troops to meet them.
In Quito, Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino welcomed news of Ibarra’s escape after two years in captivity. “It was anguish both for his family and for Ecuador,” he said of Ibarra’s ordeal.