Venezuela-Colombia: operation for rescuing hostages held by FARC-EP (Starts around 3:00 )

Source: WAPA

05:58 pm - Friday
Venezuela-Colombia: operation for rescuing hostages held by FARC-EP
Caracas, Venezuela - Hopes also for Betancourt's release

(WAPA) - Thanks to the mediation wanted - over pressure by France - by the Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, if everything goes fine, three hostages held by FARC-EP (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – Ejercito del Pueblo) will be released. Senator Consuelo Gonzales and the lawyer Clara Rojas, both Colombian, will be released.

There are also hopes for the release of Ingrid Betancourt, French-Colombian held hostage by guerrillas since 2002.

It will be a difficult and complicated operation, said Chavez about the start: "At around 3:00 the helicopters will take off with their crews. One of them will be provided with sanitary equipment, and they all will head to Villavicencio". Villavicencio is in the heart of Colombia, and here came the relatives of people to be released, and also, as warrantors, delegates from Cuba, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina and France.

Then the most delicate phase of the rescue, since the helicopters will head towards a destination remained unknown, where they will collect the hostages.




Read more: http://www.avionews.com/index.php?corpo=see_news_home.php&news_id=1084016&pagina_chiamante=index.php

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N28260432.htm

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez sent two helicopters into Colombia on Friday to start a sensitive mission to collect two women politicians and a young boy held hostage for years by Marxist guerrillas.

Speaking at a military base as the helicopters took off, Chavez said the main rescue operation had been delayed because the rebels had not yet told him the precise location of their captives.

"We have a little problem," Chavez said, crouched over a map. "The information is that there is bad weather, they are traveling and they have difficulty communicating in the jungle."

(snip)
Rough terrain and poor weather conditions could cause delays, and Hintermann said the Red Cross would not start the operation after dark.

Chavez 'begins hostage mission'

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he has sent two helicopters to Colombia to pick up three hostages to be freed by left-wing Farc rebels.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7163628.stm

all the extreme political shots at Venezuela's President? Ah, ha ha ha ha ha.

I note this article still does take the time to work in the "socialist Chavez," still. Bless the reporter, Nelson Bocanegra's heart.

It IS eerie when they have to just post the news without the traditional "Airing of the Grievances" they've got against this guy!

I was watching the news about this story and waiting for Blitzer to say something anti Chavez, he didn't
I was shocked.

"The operation is beginning now," Chavez said in the southwestern town of Santo Domingo, near the Colombian border, where he personally supervised its launch.

(snip)
A FARC patrol escorting the hostages is moving "but the weather is bad and travel is difficult," he said.

"I hope there will be good weather tomorrow, that we can fill in some small details that are missing and I hope that tomorrow we can complete the operation," he said.

He said FARC commander Ivan Marquez had reported US-made military surveillance planes flying over the area. "I hope this does not interfere," he said.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071228/wl_afp/colombiavenezuelahostages_071228215516

http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2007/12/28/afx4479836.html

Colombian hostage release won't take place Friday says Red Cross UPDATE
12.28.07, 12:46 PM ET

BOGOTA (Thomson Financial) - The release of hostages held by Marxist guerrillas in Colombia will not take place today due to security concerns, a Red Cross official said.

'The second phase of the operation (picking up the hostages in a secret location) cannot be done today,' said Barbara Hintermann of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

'The ICCR does not carry out night time operations for security reasons,' she told a news conference in Bogota.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had said the first rescue helicopters would head to Colombia today at about 3pm local time to begin the operation.

newsdesk@afxnews.com

afp/sal

US film director Oliver Stone said Friday he would travel with a Venezuelan-led air mission going to Colombia to pick up three hostages being released by Marxist rebels.

"It's wonderful," the Oscar-winning filmmaker said in Santo Domingo airport in southwest Venezuela, from where a first air convoy left for Colombia on Friday. "I've never been in such a thing and I'm proud to be part of this."

Stone said he was in Venezuela to film a documentary about Latin America and North America, but he refused to say whether he would film the actual rescue of the hostages, two women and a three-year-old boy.

Stone heaped praise on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who spearheaded the mission after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) announced on December 18 they would release the hostages to him or someone he designates.

"It's a beautiful, great process," Stone said, calling the Venezuelan leader "a great man." "I'm a fan (of Chavez)."

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=103813

Film Maker Oliver Stone And Red Cross Attempt To Free South American hostages
Created: 12/28/2007 4:36:00 PM
Last updated: 12/28/2007 5:37:28 PM

VILLAVICENCIO, Colombia (AP) -- Two helicopters sent by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez landed in Colombia Friday on a delicate mission to pluck three hostages from the rebel-held jungle.

"The operation has begun. With these two helicopters goes great hope," Chavez said as the two Russian-made MI-172 helicopters took off bearing Red Cross insignia and Venezuelan flags. "We're going to get those three people in the coming days."Advertisement
(snip)

Chavez said former Argentine President Nestor Kirchner and the other observers would follow the helicopters to Villavicencio, about 50 miles south of Bogota, as soon as the Venezuelans receive word from the guerrillas about where to pick up the hostages.

The International Committee of the Red Cross is helping coordinate the handover, and Colombia's top peace negotiator, Luis Carlos Restrepo, said his government fully supports the mission and would keep its military operations from interfering.

For security reasons, Chavez said, the rebels have demanded that the Venezuelan pilots not be told where they will fly until they are airborne. The pickup could happen anytime this weekend, according to the latest information from those involved.

The secrecy reflects the mistrust of both sides in Colombia's civil conflict. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, has been fighting for more than four decades, and its guerrillas are dispersed in remote camps in the jungles and countryside.

More:
http://www.ksdk.com/news/world/us_world_article.aspx?storyid=137497

Published Date: 29 December 2007
Source: Press Association
Location: The Press Association Newsdesk

Stone set for hostage mercy mission

American film-maker Oliver Stone has praised President Hugo Chavez as the Venezuelan leader launched a mission to airlift three hostages held by left-wing rebels from Colombia's jungles.

Mr Stone, who stood near Chavez as two Russian-made helicopters took off from an airfield in western Venezuela, said he was working on a film and hoped to accompany the humanitarian operation into Colombia.

"I'm doing a documentary about Latin America and also about North America. You have to wait around to see it," Mr Stone told reporters.

He said he planned to take part in the mission, calling it a "beautiful, great process".

"I'm hoping it works. I'm all for this," Mr Stone said. "I've never been in such a thing. I'm very proud to be a part of this."

More:
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/latest-entertainment-news/Stone-set-for-hostage-mercy.3627463.jp

Venezuela begins airlift to pick up 3 hostages

The Associated Press
Friday, December 28, 2007

CARACAS: Venezuela started an airlift Friday to pick up three hostages from Marxist rebels in Colombia in an operation that would give President Hugo Chávez a diplomatic victory after recent setbacks for his socialist revolution.

Two helicopters left Venezuela for Colombia in the afternoon.

"The operation has begun. With these two helicopters goes great hope," Chávez said as the two Russian-made MI-172 helicopters lifted off. "We're going to get those three people in the coming days."

Colombia's U.S.-allied government agreed to allow the Venezuelan helicopters to land at an air base south of Bogotá and then take off Saturday morning to pick up the hostages.

The hostages to be released are Clara Rojas, 44, captured during her 2002 vice presidential campaign; a former lawmaker, Consuelo González, 57, snatched the year before; and Rojas's son, Emmanuel, 3, fathered by one of her captors. Chávez brokered their release in talks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, a Marxist group.

The Colombian president, Alvaro Uribe, agreed to Chávez's plan on Wednesday, a month after he removed the Venezuelan leader as a mediator with the guerrillas in separate talks to swap 45 hostages for 500 jailed rebels. Chávez, who says he is willing to renew his role as go-between with the FARC, said he was "hopeful" that a second set of captives would be released, as well as the former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three U.S. Defense Department contractors.

The helicopters, bearing Red Cross emblems, were to first go to the central Colombian town of Villavicencio and from there to a still unknown meeting point to pick up the captives, but rough terrain and poor weather conditions could delay the operation. The handover was to be monitored by a group of envoys from Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador and Switzerland.

More:
http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=8946794

Venezuela president inspects aircraft to be used for hostage release

www.chinaview.cn 2007-12-29 06:12:52

CARACAS, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez arrived at Santo Domingo Airport in the western Venezuela state of Tachira at noon on Friday and examined the aircraft that will be used in the operation to pick up three hostages due to be released by Colombia's largest rebel army.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro and former Argentine president Nestor Kirchner had arrived at the airport earlier on Friday.

Speaking to press as they set off, Kirchner said, "Our work is to guarantee the release is successful and to create a new era in Latin America."

The two flew from the Simon Bolivar airport in Venezuela's capital Caracas to the state of Tachira, on the Colombia border. Kirchner is Argentina's representative at the release promised by rebels the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

More:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-12/29/content_7333021.htm

Venezuelan helicopters land in Colombia
www.chinaview.cn 2007-12-29 08:29:44

BOGOTA, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Two Venezuela government MI-17 helicopters arrived in Colombia on Friday as part of a multinational operation to pick up three people that will be freed by Colombia's government.

The helicopters, which carry Red Cross insignia, landed at the airport of Villavicencio, capital of Meta department, 77 km southeast of Colombian capital Bogota.

The Russian-made helicopters arrived at 4:47 p.m. local time (2147 GMT) coming from Santo Domingo air base, in the Venezuelan state of Tachira, where they had taken off at 3:30 p.m. local time.

Once in Villavicencio they will head for coordinates supplied by Colombia's largest rebel army, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), where they will pick up three hostages the FARC promised to free in a statement dated Dec. 9.

More:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-12/29/content_7333645.htm

Weather conditions were Saturday said to be good for a Venezuelan operation to fly into the Colombian jungle and pick up three hostages, including a small boy, being freed by Marxist rebels.

The two helicopters sent by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez were to fly into the jungle to collect two women and the three-year-old child being released by Revolutionary Armed forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels.

The helicopters, marked with International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) emblems, flew on Friday to Villavicencio, in central Colombia, but the time and location of the pickup tentatively set for Saturday remained unclear.

"The conditions are optimal," said the regional governor, Juan Carlos Gonzalez. "The airport is ready to begin operations and all security measures have been taken.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071229/wl_afp/colombiavenezuelahostages_071229133955

which killed four Venezuelan high military officials who were loyal to Hugo Chavez only a week after the failed coup attempt:

Saturday, 20 April, 2002, 14:41 GMT 15:41 UK

Crash kills Venezuela air force chief

The newly appointed head of the Venezuelan air force, General Luis Acevedo, has been killed with several other officers in a helicopter crash.
The accident, which occurred late on Friday in mountains to the north-east of the capital, Caracas, has been blamed on bad weather.

General Acevedo was promoted just days ago as Hugo Chavez resumed the presidency of Venezuela, following a failed coup that removed him from power for two days.

The general had been returning to Caracas from a ceremony at a naval academy when the Super Puma helicopter crashed and burst into flames.

Military coup

Another helicopter carrying armed forces chief General Lucas Rincon was caught in the same bad weather and had to make an emergency landing.

General Rincon said he and all the other passengers on board were safe.

More:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1941183.stm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Four Generals Die in Crash Of Helicopter In Venezuela
By JUAN FORERO
Published: April 21, 2002
Four Venezuelan generals, including the newly appointed commander of the air force, died Friday evening when the military helicopter they were traveling in crashed in fog-shrouded mountains just north of here, military officials said today.

The military said the crash, which killed 10 members of the military, appeared to be an accident caused by bad weather. But it is certain to serve as a setback in the government's efforts to reorganize a splintered armed forces, whose military high commanders withdrew support for President Hugo Chávez during antigovernment protests a little more than a week ago.
(snip)

Four of those commanders died, though, when the Super Puma helicopter ferrying them from a ceremony at the naval academy on the Caribbean coast crashed on Friday.

Among the 10 members of the military who died were Gen. Luis Acevedo, who became the new air force chief on Wednesday, and three air force generals -- Pedro Torres, chief of operations; Rafael Quintana, chief of personnel, and Julio Ochoa, a member of the air force's high command.

''It is a blow because he has to find Chavista officers like them and perhaps now he does not find them very easily,'' said Mario Ivan Carratu, a retired vice admiral and former director of the Institute for National Defense Studies in Caracas.

The crash, in the heavily forested Ávila mountain range, comes at a time when the military is under heavy scrutiny for its role in Mr. Chávez's ouster. The government has said that it considers the president's removal a military-backed coup, and the secretary general of the Organization of American States said on Wednesday that military officers should stay away from politics.

Three other generals travelling with General Acevedo were killed in the crash. Generals Pedro Torres Finol, Julio Ochoa and Rafael Quintana were all were members of the air force's newly reorganised high command.

More:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F06EEDD103FF932A15757C0A9649C8B63

Published: January 25, 2007
Ecuador's new defense minister, Guadalupe Larriva, and one of her children were killed Wednesday when their helicopter collided with another near a military base in southern Ecuador, officials said.

The crash, near Manta, 150 miles southeast of Quito, the capital, also killed two pilots, though it was unclear whether both were on the minister's helicopter, a government spokeswoman, Monica Chuji, said.

No other details were available. Ms. Larriva, 50, took office with President Rafael Correa nine days ago.



http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A06EED9163FF936A15752C0A9619C8B63

She would have undoubtedly served very well as Defense Minister.

Thanks for the reminder. It still seems so recent. She's undoubtedly still missed very much.



Guadelupe Larriva

Colombia (AFP) - As darkness fell over the Colombian jungles Saturday, the much-awaited release of three hostages including a small boy held by Marxist rebels was delayed for a second day.

Two helicopters sent by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has spearheaded the operation under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), have been on standby here since Friday.

But a diplomat in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, told AFP the release would not now happen on Saturday as had been hoped.

"The hostages will not be released today for a very simple reason. It gets dark at 1800 hours," he said, explaining the ICRC was not authorized to operate in the violence-ridden country at night-time.

Venezuelan officials are still waiting for the guerrillas to disclose where they will release former lawmaker Consuelo Gonzalez de Perdomo, 57; Clara Rojas, 44 and her son, Emmanuel, born to a rebel in captivity.




http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071229/wl_afp/colombiavenezuelahostages_071229212633

back to Venezuelan soil instead of spending the night in Colombia, home of right-wing death squads, mass murders, chain saw executions of entire villages, a graveyard for union workers, human rights workers, etc.

It's going to be a long night! Hope nothing goes wrong, although Uribe's government undoubtedly prefers to continue as the third largest recipient of foreign aid (almost all of it going to military-related areas) in the world. They've undoubtedly grown to operated on a far larger budget annually than they want to get stuck with, should they lose the opportunity to continue life as it is now. Life is sweet for right-wingers when they can keep a war going on. Any shift which would bring peace into view as the imminent possibility would be a huge blow.

of course, you'll never know.

Colombian hostage mission on hold
Sun Dec 30, 2007 12:44am GMT
By Nelson Bocanegra

VILLAVICENCIO, Colombia (Reuters) - A Venezuelan helicopter mission to rescue three hostages held for years by Colombian rebels in jungle camps was delayed again on Saturday because guerrilla leaders have not given the final go-ahead.

Foreign envoys flew to the central Colombian town of Villavicencio close to a rebel stronghold on Saturday to observe the effort, but the handover was not expected for at least a day.

After weeks of promising to release two former Colombian politicians and the young son born to one of them in captivity, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, has not yet revealed their location, the Venezuelan government said.

Hugo Chavez, the leftist firebrand president of neighbouring Venezuela, negotiated the rescue effort with the FARC and initially hoped to have the hostages freed on Thursday.

More:
http://uk.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=UKN2826043220071230

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Apparently someone at Reuters noticed that they had been overlooking loading up their articles with right-wing propaganda, so they got right back on track with this one from Nelson Bocanegra, who graciously took the time (and yours) to rehash the reform referendum from the right-wing preferred spin position later in the story. Bless his heart.

NEW: Rebels fail to give coordinates pinpointing the location of the freed hostages
NEW: Chavez: Hostages may be retrieved on Sunday, or Monday at the latest
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/12/29/colombia.hostages/index.html

(snip)
Chavez told Venezuelan television Saturday evening that he was hoping for the hostages to be collected Sunday, or Monday at the latest, so they could be with their families by the end of the year.

Bolstering hopes for a Sunday release was the arrival Saturday evening of a team of international delegates formed by Chavez and charged with overseeing the hostages' release. They include Latin American diplomats and politicians as well as U.S. movie director Oliver Stone.

"I represent many progressives in America that would like to bring a change in the way we do business with the FARC and the government of Venezuela," Stone said, according to The Associated Press.

The Colombian government has set a tentative deadline of 7 p.m. Sunday for the mission to be complete.

However, Chavez said Saturday evening that there was no hard and fast deadline and that the 7 p.m. Sunday deadline was a figurative one that could be changed if need be.

Is he not a leftist? He certainly is a firebrand by definition.

Source: Reuters


Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N30520188.htm

It's a good time to remind people Uribe has been talking about putting three military bases along the border between Venezuela and Colombia. This came up after Ecuador indicated they intend to let the lease run out without renewal on their air base the U.S. has been using at Manta, in 2009.

Envoys prepared Sunday for the release of three hostages deep in the jungles of Colombia, after a go-between received a green light from Marxist rebels to proceed with the operation.

After advancing in fits and starts, an international mission to retrieve the hostages progressed again Sunday, when rebels with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) gave a meeting point to former Venezuelan Interior Minister Ramon Rodriguez Chacin, chief interlocutor in the talks.

Rodriguez was expected later Sunday at an airport in Villavicencio, some 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Bogota, after receiving coordinates for the jungle meeting, where he was to arrange the handover of three hostages, including a toddler.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071230/wl_afp/colombiavenezuelahostages_10

After delays, envoys prepare for Colombia hostage release
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071230/wl_afp/colombiavenezuelahostages_10

and keep the military at a distance, and not kill anyone.

Found photos of the terrain at Villavicencio......

wow! I hope they get out safe

headline on top of the CNN page
http://www.cnn.com/
Hollywood director Oliver Stone to meet with Colombian rebels for the release of three hostages, the Associated Press reports.

They're putting Stone right in there as one of the principal players! Good grief. What a-holes.

So typical. Isn't it tragic they can be this stupid? Or maybe they simply intend to mislead. Wouldn't put that past them, either.