Journal Staff Report

A Spanish hostage freed by his Ecuadorian kidnappers on Sunday says that the remaining 11 captives, one of whom is a 23-year-old Navajo from Hatch, Utah, are all alive and in good health.

Ecuadorian newspapers are reporting that Ander Mimenza, a 26-year-old volunteer with the Latin American Radio Broadcasters Association, told the press Tuesday that three other hostages -- his sister, his brother-in-law, and a Belgian woman -- will probably be released soon.

But there was no word on when the remaining eight captives -- all of them oil workers with United Pipelines Systems of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada -- might be freed, according to El Universo and El Comercio, two Ecuadorian newspapers.

The kidnappings took place Sept. 11, 30 miles from the Colombian border, in the densely forested region of Sucumbios in northeast Ecuador. About two dozen armed assailants fell upon the oil workers, who were doing a rehabilitation project on a section of oil pipeline. They were guarded by four Ecuadorians, one of whom was killed in the resulting melee.

After taking captive eight workers, seven of them Canadian, the other Leonard Carter of Hatch, the assailants set up a blockade on a nearby road and also grabbed the three Spaniards and the Belgian woman.

The appearance of Mimenza, who turned up Sunday in the Sucumbian capital of Lago Agrio, was the first news of the hostages in some time. No ransom demands were ever received, nor did any group claim responsibility for the assault.

The oil workers were the real targets of the kidnapping and the others’ capture probably was a mistake, the newspapers quoted Mimenza as saying. He also said he believed the assailants had not wanted to kill the Ecuadorian soldier but had done so in self-defense after he fired at them first.

Mimenza told the press that he had been with the rest of the hostages for 10 days, during which they all tramped endlessly through the jungle, fighting thick brush, insects, snakes and rough terrain. The captors seemed very familiar with the area, used compasses to stay oriented, and steered them away from any roads, he said.

Mimenza reported that the hostages were well-treated by their captors, who did not use any physical violence against them, did not tie them up, and did not even raise their voices. The group subsisted on roots, leaves, ants and snakes, and the captors gave the hostages a liquid solution with sugar and salt to combat dehydration. Although none of the hostages were accustomed to drinking untreated water from that area, Mimenza said, none became ill from it.

The Ecuadorian newspapers also quoted Mimenza as saying that he did not know who his captors were. There has been speculation that they were leftist rebels from Colombia, but others suspect Colombian paramilitary terrorists.

Whoever they were, they wanted to urge the Ecuadorian government to respect the rights of indigenous peoples and farmers in the Amazon, Mimenza said.