The body of Caqueta's 69-year-old provincial governor Luis Francisco Cuellar was found on Tuesday after Cuellar was kidnapped by rebels Monday night, Colombian officials confirmed.
Cuellar's body was found in the rural area of Florencia, capital of Caqueta province,provincial government secretary Edilberto Ramon Endo said. "Surveys about the body have been realized, and we are waiting for the soldiers to transfer the body to Florencia," he added.
At least 2,000 police and soldiers were sent into the southern jungle highlands outside
Florencia to search for Cuellar, and the body was found less than 24 hours after the kidnapping. The pickup truck the rebels had used to abduct Cuellar was also found,abandoned and burnt.
"The rebels wearing military uniforms who kidnapped Cuellar looked like rebels of the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)," Endo said earlier.
"We can't keep waiting for the terrorists' caprice. It is time to play hard to promote the
rescue of hostages by military force," Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said in a statement
Tuesday.
Cuellar's abduction has caused much "pain and depression" in the country, Uribe said. He
denounced the deed of the rebels and said that the alleged release of hostages was just their
putting on a "show."
Caqueta province, situated in southern Colombia, has been a stronghold of the FARC, the
largest guerrilla organization in Colombia that has fought against the government for years.
The guerilla group is still holding more than 20 police and soldiers hostage, some
kidnapped more than a decade ago.