Hostage negotiator preaches peace during visit to Cafod

THE PRIEST who negotiated the release of a British man captured by rebels in Colombia visited Cafod’s London headquarters this week.
Mgr Hector Fabio Henao led the efforts to secure the release of Mark Henderson, who was among eight people seized at gunpoint by National Liberation Army guerrillas while trekking in the Sierra Nevada mountains last September.
Mgr Henao is director of Caritas Colombia, the social action wing of the Catholic Church, and one of Cafod’s main partners in Colombia.
In return for the release of the hostage, Mgr Henao promised the guerrillas he would launch an investigation into human rights conditions in Sierra Nevada.
He said: “People told us terrible stories about the crimes that have been committed. The positive outcome of the release of Mark Henderson and the other hostages has been a greater willingness by both sides to negotiate for peace.”