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Colombia's Farc rebels are likely to free French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and other captives following the planned release of three hostages, a senior Brazilian envoy said yesterday.
The Government of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has helped broker talks between Venezuela and Colombia that led to an agreement for the Marxist guerrilla group to release three hostages as early as today.
"If the operation is successful, and everything indicates it will be, the next step without a doubt will be the release of Ingrid and others," said Marco Aurelio Garcia, Lula's foreign policy adviser.
Lula held separate talks this month with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in which he offered help on the hostage issue.
Garcia will be one of several foreign observers to witness the release of the hostages in Colombia. These include Clara Rojas, captured during her 2002 vice presidential campaign, and her son, Emmanuel, fathered in captivity by one of the rebels.
Betancourt was a presidential candidate when she and Rojas, her running mate, were captured by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc.
- REUTERS
