Venezuela president hopes Colombian rebels will free other hostages

By IANS

Caracas : Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who was negotiating for the freedom of three hostages from the captivity of a Colombian rebel group, has expressed his happiness over the release of a boy by the insurgents.


Support TwoCircles

In his Sunday radio talk, the Venezuelan president expressed his pleasure over the release of Emmanuel – the son of former Colombian vice presidential candidate Clara Rojas, who is in the captivity of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) – and said he was hoping the other two hostages would be freed soon, Spain’s EFE news agency reported Monday.

The FARC rebels had announced last month they would release three of their high-profile hostages – Clara Rojas, her son and former Congresswoman Consuelo Gonzalez de Perdomo – as a goodwill gesture to Chavez who had been authorised to broker a prisoner swap with the rebels.

But Colombian President Alvaro Uribe later barred the Venezuelan leader from carrying out the mission alleging he overstepped his authorisation by contacting the Colombian military directly.

“The most important thing is that Emmanuel is free now and we are awaiting new contacts (from the rebels) for the liberation of Clara and Consuelo,” Chavez said.

Chavez said his government hailed the successful identification of the boy and called for clarification of the child’s current whereabouts.

The release of the hostages has been delayed over a week now with the leftist guerrillas attributing it to the stepped up activities by the Colombian military.

Established in 1964 as the military wing of the Colombian Communist Party, the FARC is country’s oldest, largest, most capable, and best-equipped Marxist insurgency. It has been holding over hundreds of other hostages hoping for a prisoner swap with the Colombian government.

SUPPORT TWOCIRCLES HELP SUPPORT INDEPENDENT AND NON-PROFIT MEDIA. DONATE HERE