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December 2, 2008 12:07:02 PM CST

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Hostages Could Be Free in Hours: Chávez

Posted Dec 27, 07 5:30 AM CST in World 

(Newser) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said today that three of the hostages being held by the Colombian rebel group FARC could be freed within hours. Chávez has received permission from the Colombian government to enter its airspace and retrieve the captives. The captives who might be freed will not include the high-profile Ingrid Betancourt, the French-Colombian former presidential candidate.

But Betancourt's running mate, Clara Rojas, could be freed today, as well as her son, Emmanuel, who was born in captivity. He is thought to be 3 or 4 years old. The hostages have been held since 2002. FARC has been fighting Colombian forces for years in a war that has involved not only the country's military but also right-wing paramilitary groups and drug traffickers.

Sources CNN, Reuters

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Clara Rojas, mother of former Vice-President candidateClara Rojas, talks on the phone as she holds a portrait of her daughter at the request of a local journalist, during a press conference in Bogota,...   (Associated Press)
Kidnapped former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, right, and her running mate Clara Rojas are seen during her captivity at an undisclosed location in this image from television made...   (Associated Press)
Yolanda Pulecio, left, mother of Colombia's former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, shakes hands with Clara Rojas, center, mother of kidnapped victim Clara Rojas, during a protest demanding the...   (Associated Press)
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez shows in a Colombia and Venezuela map the area where the three Colombian hostages will be released during a news conference at Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas,...   (Associated Press)
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, left, speaks to Colombia's senator Piedad Cordoba after a news conference at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2007. Chavez said that...   (Associated Press)
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