Hugo Chavez Receives FARC-liberated Colombian Hostages
Release operation ends successfully
CARACAS, January 10. — Colombian politicians Clara Rojas and Consuelo González were reunited with their families on Thursday at the successful conclusion of the prolonged operation for their release. The operation was the result of a humanitarian and unilateral gesture on the part of the guerrilla forces and the mediation work of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Visibly excited, apparently in good health and walking as if it were the most natural act, Clara Rojas and Consuelo González descended from the FALCO airplanes they had boarded 40 minutes earlier and appeared to those waiting for them in the Venezuelan airport in Santo Domingo, Tachira, close to the border with Colombia. The two women were met with hugs from their families, as the daughters of former representative Gonzalez de Perdomo bore white and yellow lilies and gladiolus; Clara Rojas´s mother was there using a walking device and dressed in blue.
The Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicolás Maduro and the president of the Venezuelan Parliament, Cilia Flores, were part of the welcoming committee at the airport as could be seen in live images broadcast by Venezolana de Television. Equally excited, Flores kissed and hugged both women.
The base in Santo Domingo was the first destination for Rojas and González as free women after living with the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) for six years. The guerrilla force announced in December its decision of deliver the two women to President Chavez so as to make amends with him after Colombian President Alvaro Uribe untimely interrupted his mediation effort for an exchange.
The two women, who were escorted by personnel from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), arrived in Venezuela from a spot in the Colombia. They were transported by helicopters bearing the emblem of the Red Cross. They moved on the runway for a few minutes to get on the FALCO planes that would take them to Caracas.
Telesur TV network broadcasted exclusive images of the moment in which a column of the FARC, composed by men and women, delivered Clara and Consuelo to the delegates of the ICRC, who went to a place in the Colombian jungle together with Ramón Rodríguez Chacín, minister of Internal Affairs and Justice; Colombian Senator Piedad Córdoba, and the Cuban ambassador to Venezuela, Germán Sánchez.
Telesur also broadcasted some of the details of the first telephone call of Clara Rojas while she was still in the jungle, and President Chavez, to whom she thanked his mediation. Clara Rojas also reminded Chavez that there are other hostages that are still being held by FARC and told him that he “could not lower his guard.”
Rojas and González said good bye to the rebels, who walked into the forest after the short meeting with the CICR delegation.
In their first statements on board of the FALCO plane, they reiterated their thanks to Chávez and Senator Córdoba.
“You have shown us that human beings are the most important for you,” said González, referring to the Venezuelan president.
Likewise, Córdoba described the process as “an exceptionally difficult task” and thanked all those who made possible “this happy ending,” including many anonymous Venezuelans and the Colombian people in general.
She expressed to the FARC the desire of this being “the beginning of something very important for peace in Colombia” and for “the release of other people.”
Chávez expresses his commitment
A few minutes after the arrival of the Venezuelan helicopters that carried Clara Rojas and Consuelo Gónzalez to the airport of Santo Domingo, in the state of Táchira, Venezuelan President Húgo Chávez reiterated his firm commitment of continuing making efforts to attain peace in the fraternal country, reported the press office of Miraflores Palace.
Chávez said that the Venezuelan government will continue making proposals to FARC, with the only objective being to win the freedom of all the hostages. He spoke about his desire of having the Colombian government listen to and reconsider proposals to form a new body to pursue peace.
He recalled that two days before breaking with Venezuelan mediation efforts, his Colombian counterpart Álvaro Uribe said that Presidente Chávez is one of the few people in the world to whom the rebel forces would give the hostages. With respect to that, Chávez said that he was ready to help and repeated his will of go to Caguán or Guaviare to speak with FARC Commander Manuel Marulanda (Tirofijo), to whom he extended a “Bolivarian hug” and said he was convinced that a peace agreement was perfectly possible.
“I can get in one of these helicopters and in three hours be speaking with Marulanda. Let that happen (President Álvaro Uribe), let´s search for life,” said Chávez. Who saids that Thursday´s deed proves that through talks and will conciliation can be achieved.
The Venezuelan president congratulated the crew of the planes and expressed euphorically: “Long live life, Venezuela, Bolivar and peace!"
Received in the Miraflores Palace
Soon after the arrival of the former FARC hostages in Caracas, Chávez welcomed them, their relatives and parliamentary representative Pilar Córdoba at the Miraflores Palace.
The Presidential Guard saluted them while the anthems Venezuela and Colombia were played and sung by all at the entrance of the presidential home.
Later, behind closed doors, the Venezuelan president briefly conversed with the former Colombia vice-presidential candidate and former congress member.
During their first contact with Chávez, the two women requested that he continue his involvement in the matter so as to reach an agreement that allows the return of all detainees and facilitates the end of the armed conflict in their nation, PL reported.
Chávez then bid farewell to the two women, their relatives and the senator and promoter of the humanitarian agreement, Piedad Córdoba, who was a member of the group in charge of finding those held.
Meanwhile, reports from the press affirmed that the boy identified as Enmanuel, who is the son of Clara Rojas conceived in captivity, will be turned over to his family shortly, after all legal steps are fulfilled in compliance with the justice system.
Impacts in Colombia
The release on Thursday by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) of Clara Rojas and Consuelo González is considered a landmark here for other actions of that type and for progress along the path toward peace.
The images of the delivery of both women by the guerrilla forces to the humanitarian mission headed by the Venezuelan minister of the Interior and Justice, Ramón Rodríguez Chacín, was said to have made a marked impact on Colombian society, which had been highly polarized in terms of the internal conflict.
Equally striking was the cordial farewell between those freed and group of guerilla fighters that released them, which was said by analysts to have that recast the diabolical image of the guerrillas that had been constantly projected in the mainstream Colombian press, PL pointed out.
In one of the first expressions on this event, former president Ernesto Samper, a supporter of the humanitarian agreement, celebrated the action and considered it the beginning of a new stage in the liberation of all those being held.
Likewise, Senator Piedad Córdoba, a promoter of the release along with Chávez, described the fact as a step toward the advance of peace in Colombia and called for the beginning of a national movement in support of the agreement.
The materialization of that commitment was described here as a conclusive success of those administrations and as the surest road to achieving —by means of dialogue and agreement— a wide scale exchange of prisoners between the guerrillas and the government.
Key words: Clara Rojas, Consuela González, families, Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, Miraflores, liberation, FARC, Revolutionary Armed forces, Colombia, International Committee of the Red Cruz, CICR, Miraflores Palace, peace
