[NYTr] Loser of the Week: Not Chavez but Colombia's President Uribe

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Venezuela Information Office (VIO)
http://www.rethinkvenezuela.com

excerpted from VIO Venezuela Daily News Roundup - Dec 3, 2007

[Videos that surfaced last week proving that Colombian hostages
are alive have caused the families of the captives to protest the
untimely halt to President Chavez's humanitarian mediation on their
behalf.  The Los Angeles Times reports that the decision by Colombian
President Alvaro Uribe to ban future talks has been unpopular.  The
wife of a U.S. citizen held hostage for years by Colombian guerrillas
said, "I want Chavez back in this again," and "He was the only hope we
had."  Others attribute the emergence of the videos as proof that
negotiations by Chavez and Colombian Senator Piedad Cordoba had been
making strides. -VIO]

****************

"Colombian Hostage 'Living Like the Dead'" AP
"Colombia recovers hostage videos" Los Angeles Times
"Colombian hostage letter released" BBC
"Colombia Shows Hostage Film; Kin Seek Chavez Back" Bloomberg

*****************

AP via Wash Post - Dec 1. 2007
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/01/AR2007120101032.html


Colombian Hostage 'Living Like the Dead'

By Vivian Sequera

BOGOTA, Colombia -- A former presidential candidate held by leftist
rebels describes in an emotional letter how she has lost her hair,
appetite and hope after nearly six years constantly on the move in
Colombia's jungles.

The letter, along with videos released by government officials Friday,
were the first evidence in years that Ingrid Betancourt and other
rebel-held hostages including three U.S. military contractors may still
be alive.

The materials were seized during the arrest in Bogota of three
suspected members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or
FARC.

"Here, we are living like the dead," Betancourt writes to her mother.
The dual French national was kidnapped in February 2002 while
campaigning for the presidency.

An outspoken former lawmaker who was once determined to tackle
Colombia's rampant corruption, Betancourt sounds resigned and weakened
in the 12-page handwritten letter, which is dated Oct. 24. Excerpts
were released to The Associated Press in Paris by people close to her
family.

"I no longer have the same strength, it is very difficult for me to
continue believing," she writes. "I am not well physically ... My
appetite is frozen, my hair is falling out in large quantities."

A short videotape released with the letter shows grainy images of an
extremely gaunt Betancourt staring at the ground, rosary in hand.

Each of the three Northrop Grumman Corp. contractors, who have been
held since their surveillance plane went down in February 2003 in rebel
territory, also appear in videos.

In an interview with the left-wing Bolivarian press agency released
Saturday, a FARC commander who calls himself "Ivan Marquez" said the
group would not send more proof that the captives are alive anytime
soon because it was too risky for the people delivering it.

"Bogota's folly forces the FARC to take drastic actions because it
cannot run the risk that other emissaries will be detained," said
Marquez, who is also known as Marin Arango.

On Saturday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who had been trying to
broker a humanitarian exchange until Colombia's government canceled
that role recently, said FARC chief Manuel "Sureshot" Marulanda has
expressed willingness to free a group of hostages as part of talks with
the Venezuelan leader.

"I sent word to Marulanda ... if I go there, I shouldn't come out with
empty hands. My visit on its own is already a condition," Chavez said.
"My visit there would have to be conditioned on the liberation of a
first group of people, to begin with, and Marulanda accepted."

It was not clear whom the FARC might consider freeing from its 46
high-profile hostages.

In the letter, Betancourt describes stretching to relieve her sore
neck, speaking as little as possible, and says it is a "problem" to be
the only woman among several male prisoners, some of whom have been
held for a decade.

Betancourt describes her joy in hearing her mother and other supporters
send her messages through a jungle radio station. She appeals to her
daughter and son, who live in France, to send three messages a week
even though she can't respond. And she urges the children to get
doctoral degrees.

"Life is not life here, but ... a gloomy waste of time," she writes. "I
live, or subsist, on a hammock stretched between two stakes, covered
with a mosquito net and with a tarp above, which works as a roof and
allows me to think I have a house."

She describes a trying life of frequent movement.

"At any moment they give the order to pack up and I live in all kinds
of holes, like any kind of animal," writes Betancourt, who will turn 46
on Christmas. "The marches are a burden because my equipment is very
heavy and I can't manage."

The families of Betancourt and the other hostages welcomed the proof
their loved ones were still alive but expressed frustration at the lack
of progress toward their release. Some blamed President Alvaro Uribe,
who has said he would prefer to rescue them in military operations.

Betancourt's letter expresses hope in mediation efforts by Chavez,
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and President Bush.

The U.S., French and Colombian governments had demanded evidence the
captives were alive during Chavez's mediation effort to win the release
of 46 high-profile hostages held by the FARC.

Although it now appears the FARC intended to eventually deliver the
material, Uribe abruptly ended Chavez's mediation role on Nov. 21.

The rebel commander, Marquez, confirmed the videos and letters were
destined for Chavez.

"The proofs were going to President Chavez, and the Colombian
government knew it," he said, adding that Chavez "with all certainty
was going to find a definite solution to the humanitarian drama of
prisoners held by both sides."

Marquez added: "With Uribe acting this way, there will never be an
exchange."

Uribe claimed Chavez had overstepped his bounds by directly contacting
the head of Colombia's army.

On Saturday, Sarkozy spoke by telephone with Uribe and expressed
concern about "the obvious precariousness" of Betancourt's health and
"about her despair," his office said in a statement. He urged Uribe to
act urgently to pursue a hostage swap.

Betancourt's mother, Yolanda Pulecio, told the AP that she did not want
the letter released publicly. She said she had received it from the
chief prosecutor's office and that its release "violated the family's
intimacy."

"I ask Marulanda, I beg him: take advantage of this historic
opportunity, make a humanitarian gesture, free those whom you have
there, the women and children," Pulecio said in between sobs during an
interview broadcast Saturday on state television in Venezuela.

AP writer Ingrid Rousseau contributed to this report from Paris.

                            ***

LA Times - December 1, 2007
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-proof1dec01,1,7570335.story


Colombia recovers hostage videos

By Chris Kraul

CARACAS, VENEZUELA -- Colombian authorities reported Friday they had
recovered "proof of life" videos showing three U.S. hostages and a
former Colombian presidential candidate who has been held by leftist
guerrillas for nearly six years.

The discovery brought hope to the captives' families but was bound to
fan the flames of a bizarre and heated dispute that saw Colombian
President Alvaro Uribe abruptly call off the mediation efforts of his
Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chavez, in the long-running ordeal.
Analysts said the videos might also increase the pressure on Uribe to
secure the captives' release.

The videos came to light after the arrest Thursday of three suspected
members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the
FARC, in the capital, Bogota. Officials did not provide details.

The tapes were time-stamped January and October 2007. On one of them,
Ingrid Betancourt, the presidential candidate who was captured in early
2002, has one wrist chained and looks gaunt and downcast. Also shown
were Thomas Howes, Keith Stansell and Marc Gonsalves, employees of
defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. who were captured when their
plane crash-landed in the Colombian jungle in 2003.

The videos offered the first "proof of life" of Betancourt and the
three Americans in more than four years. Also captured were letters and
documents, including a will written by Howes that had Monday's date.
The videos also featured about a dozen Colombian politicians, police
and army officials who are also being held.


The hostages' relatives called on Uribe to return Chavez to the
negotiating table. "I want Chavez back in this again," Howes' wife,
Mariana, said in a telephone interview Friday with Bloomberg News. "He
was the only hope we had."

"These tapes are the fruits of Chavez's work," said Angela Perez, wife
of kidnapped former Sen. Luis Eladio Perez.

In late August, Uribe gave Chavez the green light to try to broker a
humanitarian accord with the FARC to secure the release of 45 political
hostages in exchange for hundreds of rebels in government jails.

But Uribe ended Chavez's role Nov. 21, saying he had overstepped
protocol in his mediation efforts and that the FARC was merely angling
for international legitimacy and had no intention of relieving the
agony of the hostages and their families.

That led to a bitter exchange between the two leaders, with Chavez
complaining that he had been treated unfairly and Uribe responding that
the Venezuelan wanted to legitimize terrorism.

The dates on the videos appear to indicate that the guerrillas were
responding to Chavez's demand that they produce proof of life. In a
speech Friday at a rally here to close his campaign for a vote on
constitutional reform going before voters Sunday, Chavez again lashed
out.

"Uribe captures people and calls them terrorists, when as far as I know
they were acting as messengers," Chavez said in a reference to the
three FARC suspects. "Uribe doesn't have the slightest humanitarian
feeling, knowing that intercepting these proofs puts the hostages'
lives in danger."

In a statement Friday, Uribe made no mention of reinstating Chavez in
the talks with rebels. Instead, he said he would have no objection to
the rebels releasing the hostages to either Chavez or to French
President Nicolas Sarkozy. Betancourt holds dual French-Colombian
citizenship.

                                ***

BBC News - Dec 2, 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7123142.stm


Colombian hostage letter released

A letter from Ingrid Betancourt, the French-Colombian politician held
by Colombian rebels, has been released, detailing her life in captivity.

In the letter, addressed to her mother, Ms Betancourt says her strength
has diminished, her appetite has gone, and her hair is falling out.

"Here, we are living like the dead," she writes.

Ms Betancourt, a former presidential candidate, was captured in 2002 by
Marxist Farc rebels.

'Bad shape'

The letter was seized during the arrest of three suspected Farc members
in Bogota.

Its publication follows the release of video footage of the hostages,
also found during the capture of the Farc rebels.

"Physically I am in bad shape," Ms Betancourt writes in the letter.

"I don't eat anymore, my appetite is blocked, my hair falls out in
clumps... I don't have enthusiasm for anything because the only answer
for everything here in the jungle is 'No'."

She reveals that she has been able to hear messages from her family and
other supporters on a Colombian radio station and asks her son and
daughter to send her three messages every week, even though she is not
able to respond.

"I don't need anything else, but I need to be in contact with them,"
she says.

And she describes how her captors have confiscated most of her
belongings, leaving her without any mental stimulation.

"For three years, I have been asking for an encyclopaedia to read
something, to learn something, to keep alive my intellectual
curiosity," she writes.

Sarkozy's concern

Farc, which has been fighting a civil war with the Colombian government
for many years, is demanding the creation of a demilitarised zone in
the country in return for the release of Ms Betancourt and over 40
other hostages.

A recent attempt by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to negotiate with
the rebels for the hostages' release ended in controversy, when
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe ended Mr Chavez's role, accusing him
of breaking protocol by being in direct contact with Colombia's army
chief.

Because Ms Betancourt holds French citizenship, French President
Nicolas Sarkozy has also been directly involved in attempts to free her
and her fellow hostages.

In response to Ms Betancourt's letter, President Sarkozy expressed
concern about "the obvious precariousness" of her health and "about her
despair".

In her letter, Ms Betancourt referred to her French background, saying:
"My heart belongs also to France... When the night is at its darkest,
France is a lighthouse." 

                                 ***

Bloomberg - Nov 30, 2007
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aDDkG6ukJnng

Colombia Shows Hostage Film; Kin Seek Chavez Back

By Helen Murphy

Colombian officials obtained the first images in four years that reveal
hostages held by the biggest rebel group are alive, sparking calls from
family members for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to be reinstalled
as a mediator.

Grainy videos that show three U.S. contractors, former presidential
candidate Ingrid Betancourt, and 13 others in a jungle setting were
aired early this morning, eight days after Colombian President Alvaro
Uribe ended Chavez's involvement in negotiations with the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia.

``I want Chavez back in this again,'' Mariana Howes, wife of U.S.
captive Thomas Howes, said in a telephone interview this morning. ``He
was the only hope we had.''

The videos and letters from the hostages were found on three rebels
captured by the army in Bogota yesterday. A tape time-stamped Oct. 24
shows Betancourt, who was taken hostage in 2002, chained and looking
emaciated and downcast. Another video the government released this
morning shows the three U.S. nationals, seized in 2003, are alive.

``The video indicates torture, particularly in the case of Dr. Ingrid
Betancourt,'' Uribe told reporters in footage carried on CNN's Spanish
language channel. He called on France to help in freeing the captives.

``We will seek mechanisms to free the kidnapped, which are effective
and do not involve giving political weight to terrorism,'' Uribe said.

Sarkozy

Colombia has offered to swap 500 jailed rebels for 45 hostages,
including politicians and soldiers, held by the FARC, as the group is
known. Uribe released 150 guerrillas earlier this year in an
unsuccessful bid to secure the release of the hostages.

The plight of Betancourt, who holds joint French-Colombian citizenship,
has drawn the interest of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

``This is an important first step, but the president is determined to
win the freedom of all the hostages,'' Sarkozy's spokesman David
Martinon said in a statement today. ``France calls on the FARC to end
the agony of the hostages by granting them their freedom.''

`Great News'

Betancourt was kidnapped along with her vice presidential candidate
Clara Rojas in 2002 while campaigning against Uribe. The three U.S. men
were photographing coca fields from a single-engine plane in February
2003 when its engine faltered, forcing a crash-landing into
FARC-controlled jungles in southern Colombia.

The guerrillas have taken thousands of hostages for ransom to fund
their 40-year battle against the government. Betancourt and the three
U.S. contractors are among a group of 45 prisoners considered more
political bargaining chips than bait for ransom demands.

``This is great news and we'd like Chavez's involvement again, but only
if he stops upsetting Uribe,'' said Lynne Stansell, mother of hostage
Keith Stansell, in a telephone interview. ``This needs to be an ongoing
and stable effort.''

The rift between Chavez and Uribe began after the Venezuelan leader,
whom Uribe had allowed to act as mediator with the FARC, directly
contacted Colombia's army commander to discuss his efforts to help
secure the release of the hostages. Chavez had met with guerrilla
leaders in Caracas and pledged to show proof of life by the end of the
year.

Comments on Colombia

The Venezuelan president said today that the captured rebels intended
to bring the videos to Venezuela, and that the interference from the
Colombian government puts the hostages in danger.

``This is another example of how the Colombian government, of how
Uribe, doesn't want those people to be liberated,'' Chavez said at a
rally in Caracas, in comments broadcast by Venezuelan state television.
``He doesn't have the slightest sense of humanity.''

Chavez this week summoned home his ambassador to Colombia and said he
can't deal with the Colombian government while Uribe remains in office.

Since his election in August 2002, Uribe has launched a military
crackdown on the FARC, increasing the number of troops in jungle areas
and on the streets, leading to an 86 percent decline in kidnappings and
a 55 percent cut in homicides. Terrorist attacks have dropped 84
percent since 2002.

Rupert Stebbings, head of international sales in Bogota at Interbolsa
SA, Colombia's biggest brokerage, said the families should understand
Chavez's ambitions are political and not humanitarian.

``Sadly, desperate families will never see that,'' he said.