BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombian rebels pledged to hand over three hostages to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, including an aide to former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and the woman’s young son, according to a statement released Tuesday.
Chavez, at a summit in Uruguay, said he received a statement from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, saying they would hand over hostages soon. He called the move a “nice Christmas present” but noted: “They are in the middle of the jungle and I can’t go and receive them personally, even if I wanted to.”
The FARC statement said the group would free Betancourt aide Clara Rojas, Rojas’ son Emmanuel, and Consuelo Gonzalez, a former congresswoman kidnapped in 2001.
Neither Chavez nor the statement, dated Dec. 9, indicated when the three would be released. But the FARC said the three would be freed in Colombia to “Chavez or someone he designates.” Chavez had been trying to negotiate a prisoner swap between the rebels and the Colombian government before President Alvaro Uribe called him off last month.
Colombia’s top peace negotiator, Luis Carlos Restrepo, expressed skepticism. He said his “government does not have other sources to establish the veracity of the statement.”
Chavez did not say where the statement he saw came from. His partner in the negotiations, Colombian Sen. Piedad Cordoba, said in Washington that the news of the hostage release “is true,” but didn’t say how she knew that. She said more hostages will be released later.
The FARC had offered to release 46 high-profile hostages, including Betancourt and three U.S. defense contractors, in return for the release of hundreds of imprisoned rebels. Chavez was trying to work out a swap, but last month Uribe said Chavez had overstepped his mandate by directly contacting the head of Colombia’s army.
Many relatives of the kidnapped criticized Uribe for ending Chavez’s participation just as it was starting to show results.
Betancourt’s mother told Venezuelan state television Tuesday that the FARC announcement was the result of work by Chavez and Cordoba.
“I don’t have the slightest doubt that this is because of the mediation of President Chavez and Piedad,” Yolanda Pulecio said.
Rojas was kidnapped as she accompanied Betancourt in campaigning for Colombia’s presidency in February 2002. A book last year by a Colombian journalist said she gave birth to a son following a relationship with one of her captors. Emmanuel is thought to be about 3.
Rojas was last seen in a video released by the rebels in 2002.
In May, police officer Jhon Frank Pinchao escaped after eight years in captivity and revealed Emmanuel’s name, saying mother and son are kept apart.
“They don’t leave the baby with her,” Pinchao said. “They let her see him and all, but it’s the guerrillas who care for him.”
