Colombian rebels agree to meet Chavez in Venezuela: senator

[Judi Lynn]

Source: AFP

Colombian rebels agree to meet Chavez in Venezuela: senator
1 hour ago

BOGOTA (AFP) — Marxist rebels agreed to meet Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a mediator in Colombia's hostage crisis, in Venezuela next month for talks on a possible prisoner swap, a senator involved in the process said Wednesday.

Chavez will meet with a leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on October 8 to discuss the group's demand that Bogota release 500 FARC prisoners in exchange for 45 high-profile hostages, Senator Piedad Cordoba told Radio Caracol.

"The talks will take place in Venezuela -- that has been agreed to by (Colombian) President Alvaro Uribe as well as by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia," said Cordoba, an opposition senator named by Uribe as a mediator.

The agreement has raised hopes that it will lead to direct talks between the Colombian government and FARC on trading prisoners for the hostages, who include Franco-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and three Americans.



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