President Chávez coordinates FARC hostages’ liberation

The President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez Frías, will coordinate an operation to receive Clara Rojas, her son Emanuel, and the congresswoman Consuelo González, after the announcement of the Revolutionary Army Forces of Colombia (FARC) of liberating these people as an unquestionable proof of hope on the mediator role that was carrying out the Venezuelan President.



The statements were made by Chávez this Tuesday before attending as special guest to a meeting of social, union, and student movements at Uruguay’s capital city. Chávez pointed out that despite of the abrupt decision took by Colombia’s Administration, unilaterally suspending the humanitarian exchange process that he was carrying out in joint with the Colombian Senator Piedad Córdoba, he is and will be always willing to cooperate as much as he can in order to achieve the peace in Colombia.



President Chávez explained that the subject has been evaluated with his counterparts from Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and most of all France’s, Nicolas Sarkozy, who is really interested in this issue, because the former candidate for Colombia’s presidency, Ingrid Betancourt, kept by the FARC since February 2002, is also French. Chávez has recently stated that he received a letter from France’s Government where he was asked to keep the mediation, “I answered that I will stay as long as I can. Maybe the Government of France will help us”. According to Chávez, the communiqué of the FARC, delivered to the correspondent office of Prensa Latina located at Bogotá, is a gesture of good will and Colombia’s Government does not want to accept it. The communiqué was received this Tuesday.



There is not a defined strategy yet, because the FARC want to be the President himself who receive the three hostages or any person he appoints for. “We will keep evaluating as we go along. We already have some alternative proposals and none of them are easy. They are in the heart of the jungle, of the mountain. I can not go over there to receive them. I wish Colombia’s Government help. It is possible that some international organs will cooperate to achieve soon these people’s freedom, and then keep working to liberate the rest of the 45 people kept by the FARC”, he added. President Chávez emphasized that it is necessary in this moment to evaluate “time, space, risks. In order to be sure that the liberation of these people will be safe and successful”.