Security fears put Colombia hostage-release on hold
CARACAS (AFP) — An operation to pluck three hostages held by Marxist rebels from the Colombian jungle was put on hold Friday after the Red Cross ruled out an after-dark handover due to security concerns.
"The second phase of the operation cannot be done today," said Barbara Hintermann of the International Committee of the Red Cross told reporters in Bogota.
"The ICCR does not carry out nighttime operations for security reasons."
She said two helicopters carrying ICRC delegates would still depart Friday afternoon from Santo Domingo airport in southwestern Venezuela and arrive in the Colombian city of Villavicencio by 2230 GMT.
From there, according to President Hugo Chavez's handover plan, helicopters were to travel to a secret point in the jungle to pick up the hostages.
But Hintermann could not give a date and time for this stage of the operation, except to say it would not be carried out at night.
Chavez has choreographed an elaborate plan, under the auspices of the ICRC, to pick up the three hostages the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia promised to release to him on December 18.
A flotilla of aircraft carrying international dignitaries, medical teams and ICRC personnel was due to converge on Villavicencio, an hour's flight from the border and 100 kilometers (62 miles) southeast of Bogota, later Friday.
From there two helicopters were to fly to a secret meeting point that will be set by the FARC and communicated only to Venezuelan authorities.
The hostages set for release are former lawmaker Consuelo Gonzalez de Perdomo, 57; Clara Rojas, 44; and Emmanuel, 3, the son Rojas bore to a rebel in captivity. The women were snatched in 2001 and 2002 respectively.
Meteorologists forecast clear skies over the vast wilderness area of central and southeastern Colombia where the handover is likely to take place.
Security was tight at the airport in Villavicencio, as officials there prepared for a crush of international dignitaries, medical teams, and journalists.
International observers converging on the area include former Argentine president Nestor Kirchner as well as representatives of France, Brazil, Cuba, Bolivia, Ecuador, Switzerland and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Venezuelan aircraft used to transport the hostages are to be marked with the Red Cross emblem as a guarantee of neutrality.
The freed hostages were to be taken to Venezuela before returning to Colombia.
The mother and brother of Rojas as well as the children of Gonzalez arrived in Caracas late Thursday.
"I am happy and eager to see her," Gonzalez's daughter, Maria Fernanda Perdomo, said of her mother. "I want to tell her that I adore her, that I'm dying to be with her, and I thank her infinitely for having had the bravery to survive these six years and three months in captivity."
It is the first time in more than five years that the FARC will have unilaterally released so-called "political" hostages.
Rojas was the presidential campaign manager of French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt when the two were abducted by FARC in February 2002. Betancourt is not expected to be released.
They are among 45 hostages, including three Americans, whom the rebels want to exchange for some 500 FARC members held by the Colombian government. But the two sides have not agreed on conditions for that swap.
"We have firm hope that this will be the first step in a long process, aimed first at resolving the hostage crisis and secondly at finding a peaceful solution to the conflict that has gripped Colombia for more than 40 years," said Brazilian special envoy Marco Aurelio Garcia on CBN radio.
