Posted on 01/10/2008 8:56:37 AM PST by NormsRevenge
SAN JOSE DE GUAVIARE, Colombia - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said two women held hostage by Colombian rebels for more than six years were freed Thursday, saying he spoke with the former captives by phone and they were being flown out of the jungle.
Clara Rojas, an aide to former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, and former Colombian congresswoman Consuelo Gonzalez would arrive in Venezuela in the afternoon, Chavez said.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
SAN JOSE DE GUAVIARE, Colombia (AP) — Venezuelan helicopters landed in southern Colombia on Thursday, fueling up for a jungle rendezvous to pick up two women who have been held more than six years by Colombia's largest rebel group.
The sensitive operation organized by President Hugo Chavez began after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, sent him the coordinates to pick up Clara Rojas — an aide to former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt — and former congresswoman Consuelo Gonzalez.
Journalists saw the two Mi-17 helicopters painted with International Red Cross markings land at a local airport and begin to refuel ahead of a flight into the site in the jungle where the hostages would be turned over.
Colombia authorized two helicopters to participate in the rescue mission, hoping to reverse the embarrassing failure of a previous Chavez-brokered mission to free the hostages that fell apart on Dec. 31.
Colombian Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo said his government would "provide all the necessary guarantees" so the hostages can "return home as soon as possible."
Colombia suspended military operations in three areas in the southeastern state of Guaviare, a longtime stronghold of the FARC, to facilitate the handover, Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said.
"I hope the FARC will keep their word. It's the least they can do after everything they've done," Santos said in a statement.
The rebels last month promised to free Rojas and Gonzalez, along with a 3-year-old Colombian boy named Emmanuel — the product of a relationship between Rojas and a guerrilla fighter.
The guerrillas accused Colombia's military of sabotaging the promised handoff, saying they couldn't release the hostages due to military operations.
But Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's government said the guerrillas backed out of the deal because they didn't have the child hostage as they had claimed.
Results of a DNA test later proved Emmanuel has been in a Bogota foster home for more than two years, rather than held captive in the jungle.
Gonzalez's daughter, Patricia Perdomo, told state television in Venezuela that she looked forward to her mother's release.
"We are very happy, very content knowing that — God willing — my mother could be free," she said.
The FARC hold some 46 high-profile hostages — including three American defense contractors and the French-Colombian Betancourt — hoping to swap them for hundreds of jailed rebels.
Rojas was kidnapped in February 2002 while campaigning with Betancourt in a FARC-dominated region of southern Colombia. Gonzalez was abducted by the FARC in September 2001 near the city of Neiva.
____
Associated Press writers Joshua Goodman in Bogota, Colombia, and Christopher Toothaker, Fabiola Sanchez and Ian James in Caracas contributed to this report.
The guerrillas accused Colombia's military of sabotaging the promised handoff, saying they couldn't release the hostages due to military operations.
They were patrolling the Venezuelan/Colombian border too closely. Tough to get across from their rear bases in Venezuela.
.
Two helicopters from Venezuela marked with the International Red Cross logo take off in San Jose Del Guaviare January 10, 2008. These helicopters are in Colombia to pick up Colombian politicians Clara Rojas and Consuelo Gonzalez held for years in secret jungle camps by FARC rebels. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz (COLOMBIA)
Yet, Americans are still being held by FARC in Columbia with no attempts by our government to get them released.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.