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2 Colombian Hostages Freed

Posted Jan 10, 08 11:21 CST in World 

(Newser) – Colombian rebels have released two women hostages, Hugo Chavez said in a press conference today, as Red Cross helicopters were flying the freed Colombians to Caracas. The women, both held in the jungle for years, are Consuelo Gonzalez, a politician, and Clara Rojas, an aide to former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt. Betancourt  remains one of 700 captives still held by FARC, a group of the Marxist insurgents.

An earlier attempt by Chavez to broker a release, which was to include Rojas' three-year-old son Emmanuel, fell through on New Year’s Eve, after Emmanuel turned out to be in foster care in Bogota. The US and the EU both classify FARC a terrorist organization; the group has been trying to overthrow the Colombian government since the 1960s.
Source: CNN

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Venezuelan helicopters take off from the airstrip at the airport in San Jose del Guaviare in southern Colombia, Thursday, Jan. 10, 2008, to pick up two women who were kidnapped by rebels of the Revolutionary...   (Associated Press)
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez holds Juliana, grand daughter of former Colombian politician Consuelo Gonzalez at Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas, Monday, Dec. 31, 2007. Gonzalez, who has...   (Associated Press)
Venezuelan helicopters with International Red Cross insignias sit on the airstrip at the airport in San Jose del Guaviare in southern Colombia, Thursday, Jan. 10, 2008. The helicopters refueled in San...   (Associated Press)
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hostage • Hugo Chávez • FARC • Ingrid Betancourt • Clara Rojas • Bogota • Emmanuel Rojas • Consuelo Gonzalez


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