It will be remembered as one of the most audacious rescues of modern times, comparable in its derring-do to the Entebbe raid that snatched Israeli hostages from Uganda in 1976. The Colombian Army's dispatch of a helicopter deep into the jungle to rescue Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages held by Marxist rebels, with the help of American Intelligence, was a masterstroke of meticulous planning, ingenious deception and faultless execution that has won high praise for Álvaro Uribe, the President, and dealt a critical blow to Farc, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

The reaction of the outside world has been almost as ecstatic as in Colombia, where there was huge rejoicing at this latest setback to a ragtag guerrilla army that has, for more than 40 years, terrorised Latin America's oldest democracy. In France, the release of Ms Betancourt after six harrowing years in captivity was treated as a cause for national celebration.

President Sarkozy, who had made the rescue of the French-Colombian politician a priority, spoke of his country's “immense joy” and sent his Foreign Minister and an official plane to meet her. Other European leaders, the United Nations Secretary-General and the Vatican also congratulated Mr Uribe for an operation in which no shot was fired and no blood shed.

Even President Chávez of Venezuela, whose hostility to Mr Uribe is matched only by his despicable public and covert support for Farc terrorists, was forced to acknowledge the mood in Latin America and “join the jubilation” as well as calling for the release of the remaining 700 captives. If even Mr Chávez has had to recognise that the insurgency has no legitimacy, popular support or prospect of success, the turnaround in Colombia over the past four years has indeed been spectacular.

Mr Uribe came to office with a reputation as a hardline rightwinger, determined to eschew the negotiating tactics of his predecessor and deal with Colombia's intractable problems of narco-terrorism through tough military confrontation. He has been helped by unstinting support from the Bush Administration, which saw clearly the threat that Colombia's terrorists and its drugs posed to the US and to all Latin America. The Oxford and Harvard-educated President, however, has proved himself far more adroit than the caricature. He has broken the power of the right-wing paramilitaries, once seen as the only force able to oppose the Marxists, while still managing to push the rebels back from the cities, break Farc's hold over the poor and the landless and encourage defections from its 9,000-strong guerrilla army, while targeting the senior commanders and those controlling the narcotics trade.

As a result, a country that only four years ago was a byword for a narco-state, shunned by tourists and synonymous with corruption, is rediscovering its pride, democracy and self-confidence. It is now fairly safe to walk the streets. Tourists and even a US presidential candidate have returned. The bureaucracy is working. Farc still controls a third of the countryside and can count on huge illegal profits from drug smuggling, kidnapping and extortion. But it no longer commands any sympathy, even among the have-nots. And Mr Uribe's economic competence has encouraged growth rates to rise from a steady 5.5 per cent since 2003 to 7.5 per cent last year - testimony to better security and growing foreign investment.

There is a way to go before Colombia can boast the normality enjoyed by its neighbours. But yesterday's spectacular rescue, coming after earlier victories against the Farc leadership, signals the beginning of the end for one of Latin America's bloodiest and nastiest rebel groups. Mr Uribe has earned the world's respect.