COLOMBIA:
FARC to Release Three
Hostages to Chávez
By Constanza Vieira
BOGOTÁ, (IPS) - The
leaders of Colombia’s
FARC guerrillas ordered
the release of two women
hostages and the young
son of one of them as a
gesture of
"compensation" for the
frustrated facilitation
efforts made by
Venezuelan President
Hugo Chávez and
Colombian Senator Piedad
Córdoba, and of goodwill
towards the hostages’
families.
"The order to free them
in Colombia has already
been given," says a
seven-point communiqué
sent by the FARC
(Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia)
guerrillas dated Dec. 9
and sent by email
Tuesday to the Cuban
news agency Prensa
Latina, which published
it a few hours later.
The hostages,
politicians Consuelo
González and Clara
Rojas, and the son of
the latter, who was born
in captivity, must be
received by "President
Chávez or someone
designated by him," says
the statement.
The FARC said the
gesture is "an
unquestionable show of
the hope that we had
deposited in the
facilitator role" of
Córdoba and Chávez,
whose mission was to
negotiate an exchange of
hostages held by the
rebels for imprisoned
insurgents.
But their efforts, which
began in mid-August when
Córdoba was appointed
facilitator by Colombian
President Álvaro Uribe
and enlisted Chávez’s
support, was abruptly
brought to an end by him
on Nov. 21, causing
severe tension between
Venezuela and Colombia.
After Chávez said the
FARC statement was
authentic, government
Peace Commissioner Luis
Carlos Restrepo
announced that "the
Colombian government
welcomes" the unilateral
release of the hostages.
The communiqué is dated
two days after Uribe’s
Dec. 7 proposal to
establish a 150 square
km demilitarised zone
for 30 days to negotiate
a hostage-prisoner swap
-- a proposition that
the FARC reject in the
statement.
For that reason,
journalist Carlos
Lozano, director of the
Communist weekly Voz,
also had doubts about
the authenticity of the
message.
He told IPS that when he
had contact with the
guerrillas on Dec. 13,
they did not mention the
communiqué.
If the statement is
authentic, the FARC are
standing by their demand
for the creation of a
demilitarised zone in
the southern
municipalities of
Florida and Pradera in
order to negotiate an
exchange of around 45
hostages -- mainly
members of the security
forces captured in
combat -- for 500
guerrillas currently in
prison.
The facilitators and the
hostages’ families had
asked the FARC to
unilaterally hand over a
group of women hostages
and hostages who are
ill. Chávez reached an
agreement with the
rebels for the release
of a small group before
Dec. 31.
"We accept their
request," says the FARC
statement.
Chávez, who is in
Uruguay to attend the
summit of the Mercosur
(Southern Common Market)
trade bloc, confirmed
that "a few days ago I
received the response
from (FARC commander
Manuel) Marulanda
anticipating that he
would order the release
of a group (of hostages)
as a gesture of goodwill
and compensation."
With respect to the
difficult process of
handing over the two
women and the boy, he
said that "we will
evaluate things as we
go; we have several
alternatives, none of
which are easy. They are
in the middle of the
jungle; I can't go and
personally receive them
as I would like."
"I hope the Colombian
government will
collaborate. It is
possible that
international bodies
will also cooperate to
achieve their prompt
release," he added.
Clara Rojas was the
running-mate of former
Colombian presidential
candidate Ingrid
Betancourt, the
highest-profile hostage,
who holds dual
French-Colombian
nationality. The two
women were seized in
February 2002, after
peace talks broke off
between the government
and the FARC in the
southern region of
Caguán.
Rojas’s son Emmanuel,
whose father is a
guerrilla fighter as
revealed by Colombian
journalist Jorge Enrique
Botero in April 2006,
was reportedly born in
December 2004.
Consuelo González was
taken hostage in
September 2001 when her
car was intercepted on a
highway in southern
Colombia. At the time,
she was a member of the
lower house of Congress
representing the Liberal
Party. Her husband,
Jairo Perdomo, died in
2005 and she has a
granddaughter she has
never met.
In a video recording
obtained by Botero in
2003 to prove that she
was still alive, a
dejected-looking
González appears,
crying. Her family also
received a letter from
her in 2002.
The handover of the two
women and the boy should
take place "in
circumstances that
prevent base deeds" by
the government "like
what occurred with the
‘proof of life’"
documents, says the FARC
statement.
The guerrillas were
referring to two
messengers who were
carrying video
recordings and letters
showing that Betancourt
and 16 other hostages
are still alive,
provided by the rebels
as part of the
negotiations for a
hostage-prisoner swap.
The two women were
arrested by the
Colombian authorities on
Nov. 29 in Bogotá, even
though the "proof of
life" documents had been
specifically requested
by Chávez.
"The outrageous
cancellation of (Chávez’s)
facilitator role was an
act of diplomatic
barbarity against the
legitimate head of state
of a sister country and
against the Venezuelan
people," adds the
statement.
The all-out effort by
Chávez and Córdoba had
won broad international
support. After Uribe
unexpectedly cut off
their mission, they were
asked by the hostages’
families to continue
their successful work
towards a
hostage-prisoner swap,
based on international
humanitarian principles.
Córdoba is currently in
Washington to meet with
Democratic Rep. Jim
McGovern and members of
the Congressional Black
Caucus, an aide to the
senator told IPS.
Since 2003, the FARC
have held three U.S.
military contractors who
were seized while
working within the
context of the
Washington-financed Plan
Colombia
counterinsurgency and
anti-drug strategy.
French analyst Pascal
Drouhaud, who until
recently was head of
foreign affairs in the
governing party, the
Union for a Popular
Movement, told IPS from
Paris that the release
of the three hostages
would be "a humanitarian
gesture of great
significance."
"We are all
congratulating ourselves
on this, because we all
feel solidarity towards
the hostages and their
families. But at the
same time, it is a very
well thought out, astute
political gesture, which
shows that the FARC and
the group’s leadership
have a strong sense of
strategy," he said.
"We are entering a very
complex political
negotiation," he warned.
"This gesture shows that
the FARC have their ears
open to national and
international demands,
and that they are not
isolated."
Drouhaud believes the
FARC are sending the
following message: "We
are willing to carry out
in-depth negotiations.
You, the European Union
and France, want
Ingrid’s release. We
have dozens of
‘exchangeable’ hostages.
Let's sit down and
really negotiate."
"They are thinking,
analysing, interpreting,
to defend their
interests of course.
They are studying how to
move within the strong
international pressure
that has been so clearly
revealed over the past
few weeks," he added.
However, Drouhaud does
not believe that these
humanitarian advances
are sufficient reason
for the FARC to be
removed from the EU list
of terrorist
organisations.
"Today that is the
position of the EU,
adopted in May 2002. And
there is no reason to
believe that there will
be any change for now in
the bloc’s stance. As
the FARC’s humanitarian
gesture shows,
everything is in flux,
but I don't think that
at this point there are
any signs" that the
rebel group, which is
seeking international
recognition as a
"belligerent force",
will be taken off the
list of terrorist
organisations. |
