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Nicaragua Condemns FARC
Commander Killing
Adios to Chiquita
Bananas in Panama
Peru Probing Death
Squads, Army
Colombian
President Holds Hard Line
Argentine President
Pledges To Cut
Unemployment, Poverty
Rates |
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Colombian President
Holds Hard Line
Despite criticism from
liberated former
prisoners, Colombian
President Alvaro Uribe
reiterated his refusal
on Friday to remove
soldiers from any zone
in Colombia to foster
contacts for a
humanitarian exchange of
prisoners.
The Colombia
Revolutionary Armed
Forces requested that
military be removed for
45 days from the
municipalities of
Florida and Pradera in
the Colombian department
of Valle del Cauca.
Uribe again refused that
and instead demanded the
ó immediate,
unconditional and
unilateral release of
all prisoners. ó
He added that Colombia
would open doors for
French President Nicolas
Sarkozy to come to
Colombia if FARC were to
deliver former
presidential candidate
Ingrid Betancourt to him
alive.
Uribe said the Colombian
government is doing all
it can, without giving
up those points they
cannot, and reasserted
his proposal for a
meeting zone fostered by
the Catholic Church last
year, which was rejected
by the guerrilla
organization.
Four former congress
members liberated by
FARC strongly criticized
Uribe Thursday for his
reluctance to reach a
political solution to
the internal conflict.
Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez proposed
encounters abroad with
FARC delegates and
government
representatives for
peaceful dialogues to
discuss the liberation
of prisoners.
Colombian analysts
appreciated Chavez
initiative as a way to
overcome the great
difficulties in reaching
an accord between the
parties. |
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