The rebels led the march leaders into the hills, saying the local FARC commander would grant them an interview, something Lafayette said they had hoped for. Lafayette, director of the University of Rhode Island's Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies, was released after a few hours, without any meeting with the leadership. They told him to lead the marchers back to Medellin, where the march had originated. A priest who was also captured was later released. But the FARC continue to hold Antioquia state Gov. Guillermo Gaviria, and former Defense Minister Gilberto Echeverri, who were spirited deep into the mountains on horseback. Echeverri serves as the governor's peace adviser.
……After he was freed, Lafayette went to Medellin, Colombia's second-largest city, where he was to lead a conference on nonviolence along with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire of Ireland. Colombian President Andres Pastrana, meanwhile, ruled out once again a possible prisoner exchange with the rebels, who now hold as hostages in addition to Gaviria and Echeverri presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, a dozen state legislators, five members of the national parliament, about 40 government troops and a former Cabinet member, Fernando Araujo.***