Chavez plea for Colombia hostages

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/americas/7108689.stm

Version 0 of 1.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he accepts Colombia's decision to end his mediation efforts with rebels but hopes a hostage swap can be reached.

Speaking at a rally in Caracas, Hugo Chavez urged the leader of Colombia's Farc rebels to produce proof that 45 high-profile hostages were still alive.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe ended Mr Chavez's role after a series of apparent diplomatic breaches.

Families of the hostages have expressed concern and grief at developments.

The French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, is also urging Mr Uribe to reconsider his decision to end Mr Chavez's role.

Mr Sarkozy said he believed the Venezuelan leader was still the best person to broker an exchange of the 45 hostages for 500 imprisoned guerrillas.

I hope the Farc will send me the proof that [the hostages] are alive. I'm still waiting. Send it along, Marulanda! Hugo Chavez

Mr Sarkozy has made the release of hostage Ingrid Betancourt, a French-Colombian who was kidnapped in 2002, a priority.

One of the Colombian government's conditions for the exchange of prisoners with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) is evidence that the hostages are still alive.

On Thursday evening, Mr Chavez urged Farc leader Manuel Marulanda to go ahead with providing that proof.

"Since the process is under way and some things cannot be stopped... I hope the Farc will send me the proof that they are alive," he said.

"I'm still waiting. Send it along, Marulanda!" Mr Chavez added.

In a statement, the Venezuelan foreign ministry expressed "frustration" that the process had been stopped, despite "important advances that had led to the belief a solution could be found to this essentially human drama, which affects our dear sister Colombia".

But speaking to the BBC on Friday, Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos defended Mr Uribe against charges he had given up on the process too quickly.

"The facts are that since the beginning President Uribe has demonstrated his willingness to reach an agreement," he said.

Colombia's peace commissioner, Luis Carlos Restrepo, has said securing the hostages' release remains a "fundamental task" for the government.

Mr Chavez was sacked after he defied a Colombian order not to be in direct contact with Colombia's army chief.

The mediation efforts of Colombian Senator Piedad Cordoba were also terminated.

Relatives' sorrow

Correspondents say Mr Uribe, whose own father was killed by Farc rebels, had become increasingly irritated by Mr Chavez's apparent disregard for following the proper diplomatic channels on the issue.

Photos had appeared of Mr Chavez posing with a Farc commander.

<a href="/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/americas_colombians_react_to_end_of_chavez0s_mediation/html/1.stm" onClick="window.open('http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/americas_colombians_react_to_end_of_chavez0s_mediation/html/1.stm', '1195763481', 'toolbar=0,scrollbars=0,location=0,statusbar=0,menubar=0,resizable=1,width=500,height=400,left=312,top=100'); return false;"></a>Colombians react to the end of Hugo Chavez's mediation efforts<a href="/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/americas_colombians_react_to_end_of_chavez0s_mediation/html/1.stm" onClick="window.open('http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/americas_colombians_react_to_end_of_chavez0s_mediation/html/1.stm', '1195763481', 'toolbar=0,scrollbars=0,location=0,statusbar=0,menubar=0,resizable=1,width=500,height=400,left=312,top=100'); return false;" >In pictures</a>

Then earlier this week, Mr Chavez revealed that Mr Uribe had told him that he was prepared to meet Mr Marulanda, further angering the Colombian president, who said the conversation had been confidential.

Mr Uribe also expressed concern that the process risked enhancing the international status and credibility of the Farc - deemed a terrorist group by the US and European Union.

"It worries me a lot that the search for a humanitarian agreement will be used by the guerrillas for various ends, to advance their policies and at the same time, their killing," Mr Uribe said on Thursday.

Relatives of Farc hostages expressed shock and grief at the end of Mr Chavez's participation as dozens gathered near the presidential palace in Bogota to protest on Thursday.

"We thought it was very brave what President Chavez and Senator Cordoba did in three months compared to what the government has failed to do in 10 years," Jose Uriel Perez, whose nephew was taken by Farc in 1998, told AP.

"Nothing touches this government; not the deaths, nor our mourning, nor the pain the families of the kidnapped live with."