Texas Scientist Freed by Guerrillas

David Canfil (d8782@CIX.COMPULINK.CO.UK)
Wed, 23 Aug 1995 21:39:00 BST-1

Dr. T.R. Hargrove, a native of Texas, has been a hostage of
the FARC guerrillas in Colombia for the past 11 months. Yesterday,
he gained his freedom. Hargrove is a graduate of Texas A&M, a
Vietnam veteran, and he did post-graduate work at Iowa State.
For many years he has been involved in international agricultural
development, across Asia, Africa, and in Latin America. Hargrove
headed the publications and communications department at the
International Rice Research in the Philippines, before taking a
similar post at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture
in Colombia. Hargrove was a member of a team that opened up new
avenues of research collaboration in agriculture with China
several years ago. He visited Rwanda last year, during the civil
war, to assess its impact on that country's agriculture.

Hargrove researched the Taal Volcano in the Philippines, as a personal
interest, while he was working at the International Rice Research
Institute - and a book on Taal followed. Most recently, Ivy books
in the US have published Hargrove's _A Dragon Never Dies, Rice
and War in the Mekong Delta_. Hargrove has also researched the Carolina
Gold rice variety in Latin America, believing it may have been
introduced to that region by the Confederate refugees who moved to
Brazil after the War Between the States.

Hargrove's wife Susan, and their two sons, remained at their home
in Cali throughout this crisis.

There follows the Reuters stories, in English and Spanish, of
yesterday's events.


LBY951 XXX123 231455
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UU YDB
231455 I :BC-COLOMBIA-HOSTAGE
Colombian guerrillas release U.S. hostage
By Gilles Castonguay
BOGOTA, Aug 23 (Reuter) - Marxist guerrillas have released
an editor from Texas held captive in the mountains of Colombia
for nearly a year, police said on Wednesday.
Thomas Hargrove, 51, arrived at his wife's house on
Tuesday night after walking for two days after his release in
a remote area of Colombia, his brother, Raford Hargrove of
Rotan, Texas, told Reuters.
"He sounded perfectly normal, just like he'd come home
from work," said the brother, who spoke to Hargrove by phone
from Cali. "He said it was an incredible experience and that
many times he thought he was going to die."
Raford said his brother got a three-hour ride into Cali
after walking out of the mountains.
Hargrove's kidnapping on Sept. 23, 1994 sparked an
international outcry. Raford Hargrove said his brother told
him the guerrillas kept on the move for 10 months but during
the last month they were holed up in one location.
"Before that it was a constant firefight with the
(Colombian) army," he said.
Police said Hargrove was being treated at a clinic but his
brother said that other than being tired from his two-day walk
he was in good shape.
Raford said he was on the phone with his brother's wife
when Thomas walked in the door at their home in Cali.
"I talk every night with Thomas' wife and last night we
were talking when she dropped the phone, the dogs started
barking and there was a lot of yelling. Then he came on the
phone and started talking," said Raford, an insurance agent
and farmer in Raton.
Police said the guerrillas, apparent members of the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), released the
science editor without receiving the ransom they had been
demanding since they took him hostage 11 months ago.
Hargrove edited scientifc journals at the International
Centre of Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), which looks for ways to
improve agricultural methods for poor farmers in developing
countries. CIAT had repeatedly declared its inability to
pay the huge ransom the kidnappers had been demanding but it
never divulged the amount of the ransom.
Hargrove's capture prompted journalists and scientists
from Africa to Australia to send letters demanding his
release. They described him as a man dedicated to improving
the livelihood of the rural poor in developing countries.




NNNN

f0307 reute
b i BC-COLOMBIA-EEUU-LIBERAC 08-23 0426

COLOMBIA-EEUU-LIBERACION
Liberado periodista de EEUU secuestrado en Colombia
BOGOTA, ago 23 (Reuter) - El periodista norteamericano
Thomas Hargrove, quien permanec!a secuestrado por guerrilleros
izquierdistas en el sudoeste de Colombia fue liberado, inform"
hoy la polic!a.
El periodista, quien trabaja en el Centro Internacional de
Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), estaba en manos de las Fuerzas
Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), desde el 23 de
septiembre de 1994.
Hargrove de 51 a$os, fue liberado en una zona monta$osa
del sudoeste de Colombia y lleg" el martes en la noche a la
ciudad de Cali, capital del departamento del Valle, 250
kil"metros al sudoeste de Bogot , luego de caminar durante dos
d!as.
"El entr" a su casa anoche a eso de las ocho y cuarto,
camino dos d!as por las monta$as del Cauca hasta que un
habitante de la zona lo reconoci" y lo traslado en su
veh!culo", dijo a Reuters Gail Pennington, periodista del
CIAT.
Pennington dijo que Hargrove, quien es oriundo de Rotan,
Texas, habl" con uno de sus hermanos a quien le asegur" que la
experiencia del secuestro fue peor a cualquiera otra de
Vietnam.
Aunque la guerrilla exig!a cinco millones de d"lares por
la liberaci"n del periodista norteamericano, ste fue liberado
sin el pago de ning#n rescate, expres" un oficial de la
polic!a.
Luego de su llegada a la ciudad de Cali el periodista fue
trasladado a un cl!nica y sometido a ex menes m dicos.
EL CIAT plante" su retiro de Colombia a finales de 1994
por el secuestro de Hargrove, pero luego los directivos
decidieron continuar en este pa!s.
El CIAT realiza investigaciones cient!ficas sobre el
mejoramiento de cultivos tropicales y su productividad.
En los #ltimos tres a$os 64 ciudadanos extranjeros fueron
secuestrados en Colombia, principalmente por guerrilleros
izquierdistas.
Hace una semana un joven brit nico fue secuestrado y
posteriormente asesinado en cercanias a Bogot por rebeldes
izquierdistas.
El pasado 20 de junio los misioneros norteamericanos
Timothy Van Dike y Steve Welsh fueron asesinados en una zona
monta$osa del departamento de Cundinamarca por rebeldes de las
FARC que los mantenian secuestrados desde enero de 1994.
El ej rcito colombiano inform" que los dos misioneros
fueron muertos por los rebeldes en momentos en que se intento
una operaci"n de rescate.
En mayo el mismo grupo guerrillero liber" en el noroeste
de Colombia a los ingenieros suecos Tommy Tyrving y Danny
Applegate a quienes mantuvo secuestrados durante cinco meses.
REUTER LJA CAF 1355 GMT


Reut 09:55 08-23-95&zb &zd