Colombian, Venezuelan
presidents meet on
prisoner exchange
Colombian President
Alvaro Uribe met on
Friday with Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez to
analyze options for a
prisoner exchange
between the government
and Colombia's
guerrilla.
Both presidents hold
talks at Hato Grande
hacienda, the rest home
for Colombia's
presidents, in Sopo
municipality 100
kilometers north of
Bogota.
French President Nicolas
Sarkozy asked Chavez on
Wednesday to be the
middleman for a prisoner
exchange between
Colombia's government
and Revolutionary Armed
Forces (FARC) guerrilla.
Uribe welcomed Chavez at
Hato Grande hacienda
amidst extreme military
security measures,
Chavez's delegation
includes Foreign
minister Nicolas Maduro,
Venezuela's ambassador
in Colombia, Pavel
Rondon, among others.
Uribe's delegation
includes Foreign
minister Fernando Araujo,
among others.
Chavez and Uribe will
meet for an hour and a
half, thereafter they
will hold a press
conference.
Uribe rejected FARC's
proposal to exchange 47
hostages, including
soldiers, politicians
and three U.S. citizens
for 500 guerrilla
prisoners. He also
rejected other FARC
conditions, including
withdrawal of government
military troops from
Pradera and Florida
municipalities.
Uribe also ordered the
hostages' rescue with
military attacks but has
been criticized by the
hostages' families since
it endangers the
hostages' lives. |
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