Marc Gonsalves didn’t spend more than five years as a FARC captive without understanding the nature of the so-called revolutionaries.  At a welcoming ceremony in Fort Sam Houston, Gonsalves ripped FARC as a gang of “terrorists with a capital T”, scoffed at their pretense of speaking for the poor, and called the organization a criminal enterprise.  And that was just the warm-up:

Marc Gonsalves said the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which held him and two other U.S. military contractors in captivity for more than five years, were punishing others because he was rescued.

Gonsalves said, “I want to send a message to the FARC. FARC, you guys are terrorists.”

Gonsalves challenged his audience to imagine the reality of the hostages still being held by FARC. Their punishment for the successful rescue of Gonsalves will be to wear heavy chains around their neck and to carry heavy backpacks, as their captors force them through long marches. They will suffer for Gonsalves’ freedom, and he is not happy about it in the least.

Fellow freed hostage Ingrid Betancourt took another tack, saying that Colombia needed to end the “vocabulary of hate” against FARC. Gonsalves obviously did not get that memo.

This again points out the folly of negotiating with FARC’s sponsor, Hugo Chavez. Interpol has solid evidence of his financial support for the Marxist terrorists, and Chavez’ plot against the American ally Alvaro Uribe has been exposed for the world to see. The last step an American president should take would be to open direct, presidential contacts with Chavez — and yet Barack Obama claims he will do just that, without any preconditions.

Perhaps Obama should talk with Gonsalves first, if not instead.