Betancourt told reporters Wednesday that she was infuriated when she saw the chopper and its crew, some of whom were wearing Che Guevara T-shirts, because she thought the hostages were going to be used for some publicity stunt.
She and the other hostages were also upset about being handcuffed, which Padilla said was a precaution to prevent the hostages from trying to hijack the helicopter that would prove to be their salvation.
Once airborne at 2,500 feet, the eight Colombian commandos who were on board the chopper in various guises, including news reporter, cameraman, doctor and nurse, overcame and disarmed Cesar and another FARC commander.
One U.S. official said that great care was taken to make the rented Russian-made MI-17 helicopter and its crew resemble those that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez sent with Red Cross officials to the area in January and February to recover six FARC hostages.
To put the rebels' minds at ease, two commandos posed as video reporters much like the Telesur team that Chavez sent to record the earlier releases.
Colombia almost launched a rescue operation in February after the three Americans were seen bathing in the Apaporis River. But before an operation could be launched, the hostages and their captors slipped into the jungle.
That rescue plan did not involve a ruse but a rapid deployment "humanitarian cordon" that was to have been airlifted to encircle the rebel camp.
A rescue plan moved back to the front burner in May after Colombian authorities again located the hostages in southeast Guaviare, based on intelligence gleaned from FARC deserters and army officer Jhon Frank Pinchao, a former hostage who escaped the FARC in May 2007.
The two colonels who devised the "bottom up" plan will be decorated, Padilla said. He declined to disclose their identities.
"I never dreamed this could happen," the general said, "which is not to say I didn't want it to."
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chris.kraul@latimes.com
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Times staff writer Patrick J. McDonnell contributed to this report.
