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Colombian rebels set to free more hostages
2008-02-25
Colombian Marxist rebels plan to free four hostages on Wednesday in the second release deal brokered by Venezuela in as many months despite its simmering dispute with Colombia's government, officials said. FARC rebels have told the leftist government of President Hugo Chavez where to pick up the four captive lawmakers, Venezuelan Interior Minister Ramon Rodriguez said on Monday. "We will be ready to set off early on Wednesday," he told a news conference. The release of the hostages, who have been held for more than six years in jungle camps, would raise hopes for the freedom of the most high-profile captives, French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and three U.S. contractors. The release in January of two women politicians marked the first major breakthrough in years in talks to move toward peace between the FARC -- the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -- and the government of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. But after close initial cooperation, Chavez and Washington ally Uribe have bickered over the Venezuelan's mediation. Colombia's foreign ministry had no immediate response, but armed forces commander Gen. Freddy Padilla said Venezuelan helicopters would be allowed to fly into Colombia to pick up the lawmakers as they had been permitted to do in January. "We are going to facilitate this, there are no operations in the area so the helicopters can arrive with the same ease and with the same support we gave to the previous rescue mission by the Venezuelans," Padilla said. Rodriguez earlier repeated Venezuelan accusations that the Colombian army was obstructing the release. "There are intense, powerful, careless operations in the area where the hostages are. I want the hostages' families to know their relatives are in danger," he said. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which accompanied Venezuelan officials on the January mission into the neighboring country to pick up the hostages, said it would seek guarantees of safety for the new operation. DIPLOMATIC TENSIONS Uribe, popular in Colombia for his tough stance against the guerrillas, has so far refused to yield to FARC conditions for a broad deal to swap 44 high-profile captives, including Betancourt and the three Americans, for jailed rebel fighters. Despite Chavez's progress, Uribe abruptly fired the Venezuelan last year as a mediator accusing him of using the role to meddle in Colombia's internal affairs. But Chavez has maintained contacts with the rebels. The Venezuelan leader, a strident White House critic, has angered Bogota and Washington by calling for more political recognition for FARC, which U.S. officials label a drug-trafficking terrorist group. The FARC, last month said it would release lawmakers Gloria Polanco de Losada, Luis Eladio Perez and Orlando Beltran, all held for more than six years. They later said they would also free Jorge Gechem, an ailing legislator. At the Venezuelan news conference, relatives of the hostages pressured their government to aid the mission. "We cannot stop insisting that the government gives the necessary guarantees so that our loved ones can come back safe and sound," Angela Rodriguez, the wife of one of the captives, said. (Additional reporting by Fabian Andres Cambero in Caracas and Patrick Markey in Bogota; Editing by Brian Ellsworth and Stuart Grudgings)
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