Most Colombians woke up ecstatic this morning over the unbelievable news of Ingrid Betancourt’s rescue yesterday in the southern Guaviare region. I feel Colombians have been given a much needed energy boost, a Red Bull shot, to go after peace once and for all.

Her return to freedom and Colombians overjoy signal a new era of hope and optimism, a shot of extra confidence in the Uribe government and the military leadership, and a demoralizing defeat to the FARC, the fading guerrilla group that held Ingrid in captivity for almost six years and a half.

Last night, millions of Colombian were glued to the television screens and radio units, while scores in Colombia and abroad broke Colombia’s most visited news sites, including that of eltiempo.com and elespectador.com. A day later, Colombian news sites are barely getting their act together and recovering from the stampede of news-hungry online users.

The impeccable rescue mission of Colombia’s most famed heroine will impact for years to come all political, diplomatic, military, intelligence and humanitarian efforts to end violence in Colombia and rid the country of the cocaine exporting business.

For starters, Ingrid will alter the 2010 presidential elections. Her smart answers to challenging political questions from reporters demonstrate she is lucid and more mature than before her kidnapping. Whether she enters the presidential race or not, president Uribe now has to reconsider his strategy, change plans and carefully gauge how she may derail his questionable reelection wishes. This, by all means, is a healthy process for Colombia.

The unquestionable success of the rescue operation is another victory for Colombia’s military and intelligence units, a process started in 2000 with Pastrana’s Plan Colombia. Make no doubt the Armed Forces come out emboldened from Wednesday’s surgical operation. Their popularity is on the rise.

On the diplomatic front, the Colombian government has shown the world how much it wants peace while mastering to isolate presidents Chávez of Venezuela and of Correa Ecuador and their lonely Colombian ally, Senator Piedad Córdoba.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, have suffered the most serious blow in its history. Wednesday’s mission is far more damaging to the FARC than the deaths of Manuel Marulanda, founder of the guerrilla group, and that of leaders Raúl Reyes and Iván Ríos in previous months. For the first time, the FARC was penetrated and beaten in its backdoor in the jungle.

Kidnapping, corruption and cocaine exports still hunt Colombia.

Make no question the end of violence is still far out.

Let’s drink the Red Bull and hope it lasts for a while. It surely tastes good.

Andrés Cavelier, Washington, DC