Chavez Calls on
Colombian Government to
Let Him Meet Rebel
Leader
Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez on Saturday
appealed to his
Colombian counterpart
Alvaro Uribe to allow
him to meet with
Colombian rebels to
discuss a hostage swap.
"President Uribe, you
asked me for help, (and)
I want to help," Chavez
appealed on television.
"I make my formal
request before the
world: let me talk with
(Manuel) Marulanda in
Colombia," he said,
naming the head of the
Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC),
Colombia's largest
anti-government group.
He also said French
President Nicolas
Sarkozy had offered to
join the talks in
efforts to rescue the
dozens of hostages held
by the FARC, including
former presidential
candidate Ingrid
Betancourt, a
French-Colombian
citizen.
The Colombian government
earlier said it did not
consider the proposed
Chavez-FARC meeting as
"appropriate."
Colombia has been
ravaged by decades of
civil war, killing more
than 3,000 people every
year. |
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