By DPA
Bogota : The government of Colombia has agreed to a humanitarian operation that would see three high profile hostages released by left-wing rebels – a plan proposed by leftists and presented by the Venezuelan government.
The Colombian government delegated Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo to be its representative at the handover, Foreign Minister Fernando Araujo said at a televised news conference Wednesday.
Venezuela would send helicopters into Colombian territory to release the three hostages held by the country’s largest terrorist group, the left-wing Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), under the agreement.
The handover was to happen in the coming days, and representatives from surrounding countries were headed to Venezuela. Former Argentine president Nestor Kirchner and current Argentine Chancellor Jorge Taiana – key figures in the event – were to arrive Thursday in Venezuela, Argentine officials said in Buenos Aires.
Intense negotiations have been ongoing for months, with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez mediating with FARC, who have been holding hundreds of hostages, including high profile politicians and police officials, some of them for years.
Chavez has however been on the outs with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe after talking directly to a high level Colombian military official.
FARC indicated it was releasing the three hostages as “compensation” for Chavez and the Colombian senator Piedad Cordoba, who were mediators between FARC and the government in Bogota from August to November, until Uribe cut off Chavez’ involvement.
FARC said last week it would release three hostages – Clara Rojas, the campaign manager for former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who is also being held hostage; Rojas’ three-year-old son Emmanuel, born in captivity; and former lawmaker Consuelo Gonzales, held since 2001.
Rojas and Betancourt, who has duel French-Colombian citizenship and has become a cause celebre in France, were together when they were kidnapped on the campaign trail for their Green party.
Red Cross and Venezuelan aircraft were to fly from Venezuela to the city of Villavicencio in Colombia’s Meta province, south of Bogota. From there, they were to pick up the hostages in their jungle location.
The final destination for the hostages will be an airport in Venezuela, Chavez said in a news conference.
During the mediation, FARC has said they were willing to release between 47 and 50 hostages – including the US citizens and many politicians, military and police officials – in exchange for at least 500 imprisoned rebels, including two who were extradited to the US.
France said last week it would accept FARC members who would be released in any hostage exchange.
French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said other European or Latin American countries could also be used in a possible exchange and that France would be willing to send observers to participate in the negotiations for the exchange.