July 2 (Bloomberg) -- Colombian troops rescued former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt from Latin America's biggest guerrilla group in an operation that marks the worst setback for the rebels in 44 years of warfare.

``Thank you God, the virgin and Colombia, thank you!'' said Betancourt, 46, stepping off a plane in Bogota after six years in jungle camps and falling into her mother's arms. ``The rescue was perfect, impeccable.''

Troops freed a total of 15 hostages, some held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia for more than 10 years. Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said the group's top command was infiltrated and tricked into putting three groups of handcuffed hostages onto a helicopter that they thought belonged to an aid group and that would take the captives to guerrilla leader Alfonso Cano.

``This was a movie style rescue that freed 15 people who had been tortured for so many years,'' said Santos, surrounded by the former captives at the military airport. ``It's unprecedented.''

The rescue comes after the FARC, as the group is known, suffered crippling blows this year by the death of three of its highest-ranked leaders, the desertion of dozens of its most seasoned commanders and the betrayal of at least one of its senior security chiefs. President Alvaro Uribe's policy of attacking the rebels and paying informants has been central to his offensive against the FARC, whose numbers have been more than halved since he took office in 2002.

`Trump Cards'

``These hostages were the FARC's trump cards -- everyone thought they would be the last ones to be freed because that would reduce the FARC's leverage tremendously,'' said Myles Frechette, U.S. Ambassador to Colombia from 1994 to 1997. ``It's a terrific accomplishment for Colombia.''

The FARC today lost most of its bargaining chips with the government and the international limelight that came with holding foreign captives, said Cynthia Arnson, director of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Latin American program in Washington.

Betancourt and the three Americans ``were the most valuable political currency the FARC possessed,'' said Arnson.

The plight of Betancourt, who holds French-Colombian citizenship, has drawn the attention of French President Nicolas Sarkozy who pledged during his campaign last year to free her.

``It's the end of a six-year struggle,'' Sarkozy said in a news conference in Paris alongside Betancourt's son and daughter. ``To the FARC I say you must stop this absurd, medieval battle.''

`Huge Blow'

Betancourt was kidnapped along with her running mate, Clara Rojas, in 2002 while campaigning against Uribe. The FARC took them captive as they entered the demilitarized zone former President Andres Pastrana set up in 1998 to carry out peace talks. The rebels used the zone to build up arms, run drug- trafficking operations and plan kidnappings. Rojas was freed by the FARC in January with the mediation of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

``We need to unite and work together to get the rest of the hostages free,'' said a healthy-looking Betancourt, whose long hair was braided at the neck and was wearing a camouflaged military jacket and Wellington boots. ``This is the huge blow to the FARC.''

U.S. Hostages

The three U.S. men, Keith Stansell, Thomas Howes and Marc Gonsalves, were photographing coca fields from a single-engine plane in February 2003 when its engine faltered, forcing a crash-landing into FARC-controlled jungles in southern Colombia. The three were flown directly to the U.S. to be reunited with their families, Santos said.

The rescue was announced just as Republican presidential candidate John McCain was leaving the country after meeting with Uribe in Cartagena. McCain, an Arizona senator, and two other senators accompanying him, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, were briefed on the rescue mission last night.

Disease, desertion and combat casualties have cut the FARC's ranks to about 8,000 fighters from more than 17,000 at its peak, according to government figures.

The FARC, which today is considered a band of terrorists by the U.S. and the European Union, was founded in 1964 as a rural, peasant, Marxist insurgency. It initially received support from the Soviet Union, Cuba and the Communist Party of Colombia. Its founder Manuel Marulanda died in March of a heart attack, while his deputy Raul Reyes was killed by the Colombian military in its camp inside Ecuador the same month.

Cocaine

``We congratulate President Uribe and the Colombian military on the success of the operation,'' said U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice in a statement. ``We are delighted with the safe recovery of these Americans after more than five years of captivity. The United States calls on the FARC to release immediately all remaining hostages.''

The FARC traffics in cocaine for the bulk of its revenue, according to the U.S., which has sent Colombia $5 billion in the past seven years for its anti-insurgency campaign. The guerrillas control most of Colombia's production of coca, a key ingredient of cocaine, the State Department says. More than 80 percent of the drug sold in the U.S. comes from Colombia.

Uribe's strategy of sending battalions deep into the jungles to seek out FARC hubs and encampments -- instead of the more defensive policies of previous governments -- has helped cut kidnappings by 83 percent to 486 last year and terrorist attacks by 76 percent to 387 in 2007, the Defense Ministry says. He also boosted troop strength by 44 percent.

The FARC still holds more than 700 hostages.

To contact the reporter on this story: Helen Murphy in Bogota at hmurphy1@bloomberg.netAndrea Jaramillo in Bogota at ajaramillo1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 2, 2008 20:46 EDT