CARACAS (AFP) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez urged Colombian leftist rebels to provide proof that 45 hostages were still alive, sidestepping Bogota's decision to end his mediation in the affair.
Chavez said Thursday he respected the decision of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to call off his mediation role, but he still made a direct plea to the leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Manuel Marulanda.
"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," said Chavez.
Earlier this week Chavez said Marulanda had pledged to provide evidence by the end of the year.
"I'm still waiting," he said during a political rally for an upcoming referendum on a new Venezuelan constitution. "Send it along, Marulanda!"
The leftist Venezuelan president also spoke of Uribe's demand that FARC release some of the hostages and pledge to free the rest as a pre-condition for Chavez to meet with the rebels.
Addressing Marulanda, Chavez said: "Should you decide to release that group (of hostages) in spite of what has happened, I will receive them here."
"We have more than 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) of Colombia-Venezuela border, and we would receive them with pleasure," he said.
In August, Uribe had given his blessing for Chavez to mediate FARC's offer to release 45 high-profile hostages, including three Americans and French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt. In exchange he would release 500 rebels held in Colombian prisoners.
But the conservative Colombian president announced Wednesday that he considered Chavez's mediation role over because Chavez had ignored his demand not to speak directly with Colombian generals about the hostages.
"I respect Uribe's decision and I feel very sorry for Colombia," Chavez said.
Earlier, Venezuela's foreign ministry expressed regret about the conservative Colombian president's decision, which was criticized by the families of captives.
"The government of Venezuela accepts this sovereign decision of the government of Colombia, but expresses its frustration given that this means the end of a process that had been taken up with firm backing and amid great difficulties," said a ministry statement.
The past months of mediation had seen "significant advances which had prompted thoughts of a possible solution to this essentially human drama, which affects our dear sister Colombia," it added.
Uribe ended the mediation after Chavez contacted Colombia's army chief, General Mario Montoya, about the hostages, despite Uribe's insistence that he not speak to his top brass, his office said.
Uribe's decision surprised observers since he had given Chavez a December deadline for his mission.
Uribe also ended the mediation role of Colombian opposition Senator Piedad Cordoba, who had called Montoya and then handed the telephone to Chavez, Uribe's office said.
Cordoba expressed shock at the decision, telling reporters in Caracas that the call to Montoya was simply "routine."
The Colombian government's peace commissioner, Luis Carlos Restrepo, said mistakes were made in Chavez's mediating effort.
"In many instances there were no instructions given or precautions taken to handle these issues with the proper discretion," he said.
The office of French President Sarkozy, who has taken personal interest in Betancourt's plight, said his ambassador to Bogota would deliver a letter to Uribe urging him to "maintain a dialogue" with Chavez.
But Uribe's top aide, Jose Obdulio Gaviria, told reporters that there would be "no going back" on the president's decision.
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