The Colombian government expressed hope
Monday that rebels of the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)
would listen to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's call upon them to release
their hostages unilaterally.
"I think time has come for FARC to release all the hostages they have
there in the mountains. It would be a great humanitarian gesture, in exchange
for nothing," Chavez said Sunday in his weekly television programme Alo
Presidente.
"Having a group of people, especially civilians but also members of the
military, up a mountain is not the same as being in jail. I was in prison
two-and-a-half years (for a failed coup attempt in 1992), but my wife came to
see me everyday, and my parents on weekends," Chavez said.
Colombian Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos said on Monday, "I hope FARC
listen to Chavez."
FARC are believed to be holding more than 700 hostages, some of them kidnapped
over 10 years ago, including a group of some 40 hostages, such as former
presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, that the rebels consider
politically-relevant and plan to exchange for imprisoned rebels.
The left-wing populist Chavez mediated to obtain the release of several
hostages earlier this year.
Santos told Colombian radio station RCN that he was surprised to hear Chavez's
comments and noted that former Cuban leader Fidel Castro spoke on a similar
note four or five years ago.
"The important thing is that this translates into facts. What we are most
interested in is that our neighbours cooperate in the fight against terrorism.
It would be great news," Santos said.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack welcomed Chavez's
comments but added they must be followed up with action.
"Well, those are certainly good words. And we would encourage Venezuela to follow those good words with concrete actions and seek to - and the Venezuelan
government should make every effort, public and private, to distance itself
from any relationship it may have had with the FARC," he said.
"So we'll see whether or not these words from President Chavez are just
that: words. We'll see if those words are followed up by concrete action,"
McCormack added.
Based on the contents of computers found in the possession of rebel leaders, Colombia has in recent months accused both Venezuelan and Ecuadorian authorities of having
ties with FARC. However, both Caracas and Quito have denied the allegations
amid great diplomatic tensions.
Santos also said that a group of Colombian soldiers saw three US citizens held
hostage by leftist rebels since 2003, but did not attempt to free them and then
lost track of the former contractors.
He explained that the soldiers saw Thomas Howes, Keith Stansell and Marc
Gonsalves as the three were taking a bath in the river Apaporis, in the
southern Colombian province of Guaviare. The men were being watched by several
members of FARC.
The minister told RCN that the soldiers were so close to the hostages that they
heard them talking, although they could not understand what the three were
saying because they spoke in English.
The soldiers told their superiors about the sighting. However, when a larger
group returned to the place where the hostages had been bathing the rebels had
left with the US citizens. The authorities then lost track of the group.
Santos did not say when the sighting happened, but stressed that the
country's military forces continued to look for all hostages held by FARC,
including Betancourt. The families of the kidnapped victims reject this
strategy and claim that it is too risky for their loved ones.
Gonsalves, Stansell and Howes were kidnapped in February 2003, when the plane
they were travelling in crashed in southern Colombia. They were under contract
with the US Department of Defence and were active in anti-drug tasks in Colombia.
It remains unknown whether the plane crashed due to mechanical failure or was
brought down by FARC. The three were travelling with fellow-US citizen Thomas
Janis and with Colombian Army sergeant Luis Alcides Cruz, both of whom were
reportedly killed by the rebels.
Former Colombian senator Luis Eladio Perez, a hostage of FARC for close to
seven years and released in January, said Monday that he is "completely
sure" that there will be other releases "very soon."
"I think things are going to happen very soon. I have no doubt that
several of the kidnapped are at this moment walking along the path to freedom,"
Perez said, according to dpa.
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