[NYTr] Chavez, Uribe to Meet Friday on Captive Exchange

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

El Universal - October 9, 2007
http://english.eluniversal.com/2007/10/09/en_pol_art_uribe,-chavez-to-add_09A1120081.shtml

Uribe, Chávez to address humanitarian swap

For Colombia, a top priority in the agenda Colombian and Venezuelan
presidents Álvaro Uribe and Hugo Chávez are to deal with during their
meeting next October 12 should be a likely humanitarian agreement to
swap hostages held by FARC for rebel troops who are in jail.

"The presidents carry in their luggage subjects such as the
humanitarian agreement, which is top priority in the Colombian agenda.
This topic is in Chávez' agenda too, as Venezuela is playing a role as
a mediator," said Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs Fernando
Araújo, Reuters quoted. Chávez has been acting as a mediator to reach a
likely agreement intended to swap 45 people who have been held by the
rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Force (FARC), including
Colombian-French politician Ingrid Betancourt and three US contractors,
for FARC troops who are in prison.

Chávez asked Uribe to put FARC leader Pedro Antonio Marín, also known
as Manuel Marulanda and/or Tirofijo, in a plane and send him to
Venezuela, to treat him right and even welcome him with a coffee.

Colombian Vice-President Francisco Santos replied to Chavez's remarks,
"As a matter of fact, many Colombians would not like someone who has
terrified the countryside, someone who has murdered countless
Colombians, someone who orders planting antipersonnel landmines,
someone who is involved in drug traffic, to be welcomed with a coffee,
as if nothing, in a neighbor country."

Santos asked Chávez to be wise in his role as mediator before the FARC.
 
Last Sunday, Uribe launched a warning to the international community
not to let FARC deceive them. The Colombian ruler branded the rebel
group as "narcoterrorist" and put the blame on the guerrillas for the
killing of a politician running for mayor.

Meanwhile, a meeting between Chávez and FARC delegates scheduled for
October 8 was adjourned for at least 30 days, "while confidence is
regained," said Colombian senator Piedad Córdoba.

Regarding the names of the guerrilla leaders who are to talk to Chávez,
Córdoba said, "it is not President Uribe who chooses the commanders who
are attending the meeting, it is Manuel Marulanda who chooses."

Further, former Colombian President Ernesto Samper said he had his
hopes focused on Chávez to release the hostages.

                          ***

El Universal - October 10, 2007
http://english.eluniversal.com/2007/10/10/en_pol_art_european-union-backs_10A1121799.shtml

European Union backs Chávez-FARC talks

By Fidel Eduardo Orozco

The Portuguese Presidency of the European Union Tuesday issued an
official communiqué endorsing the efforts advanced by the Venezuelan
government for the release of the hostages held by the Colombian
Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC).

The declaration forwarded by the delegation of the European Commission
in Caracas stated that "the European Union welcomes all recent
initiatives in pursuit of humanitarian agreements that can secure the
release of all hostages, end the armed conflict, and bring peace to
Colombia taken with the Colombian government's support." The document
stressed that the European Union was following with interest "the
mediation efforts of the President of Venezuela (Hugo Chávez) and
supports the work of all those committed to the enforcement of
international humanitarian laws in Colombia."

The declaration was endorsed not only by the present EU member
countries, but also by candidate countries Turkey and Croatia, and the
former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Countries of the
Stabilization and Association Process, as well as potential candidates
Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and the EFTA
countries Iceland and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as
well as Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and
Georgia.