Colombia's FARC Frees Four Hostages in Chavez Deal (Update3)

Feb. 27 -- Colombia's biggest guerrilla group released four hostages today in a deal brokered by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, ending six years of captivity in remote camps for some of the prisoners.

Two helicopters in the Chavez-led operation to free the former Colombian lawmakers reached a meeting point in southern Guaviare, Colombia, where a rebel patrol escorted them out of the jungles, Red Cross official Barbara Hintermann said on Caracol TV. All four lawmakers are healthy enough to travel, she said.

The prisoners, held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, are at the center of a diplomatic dispute between Chavez and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, who pulled backing for the Venezuelan leader's mediation efforts in November. Chavez deepened the rift by pledging support for the rebels and urging Latin American and European nations to grant the FARC, as the group is known, formal political recognition.

``The FARC has prioritized the release of civilian hostages in poor health, trying to counter recent images of the captives living in inhumane conditions,'' said Patrick Esteruelas, Latin America risk analyst with Eurasia Group in New York.

Colombia suspended military operations in the area where the release was expected. The FARC holds as many as 750 captives and has a policy of executing them if troops approach the camps or attempt any rescue.

The former hostages include former Senator Jorge Eduardo Gechem, who suffers from a bleeding ulcer and heart problems and is said to be in 'grave' condition, according to Colombian government intelligence.

`Double-Edged Sword'

The helicopters, bearing Red Cross emblems, will return after the pickup to Venezuela, where family members are waiting.

The former hostages are getting medical attention from doctors on the flight, which will make at least one stop in Santo Domingo, Venezuela, said Jesse Chacon, the minister of the president's office, in comments broadcast by state television.

``We want the families to know that their loved ones are already in our hands,'' Chacon said.

The release of hostages today is the second this year. Last month, Chavez received two prisoners, former vice presidential candidate Clara Rojas and former congresswoman Consuelo Gonzales. Chavez has said he will maintain contact with the rebel group in a bid to negotiate a swap of captives for 500 jailed rebels.

`Double-Edged'

Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos, speaking live on Caracol TV, called on the rebels to release all hostages they hold.

``Releasing hostages becomes a double-edged sword for the FARC,'' said Stephen Donehoo, Latin American specialist at Washington-based Kissinger McLarty Associates. ``They retake center stage in the world's press and pay off political debt to Chavez, but it also serves as a reminder of the conditions in which it keeps hostages for so many years.''

Armed with modern weapons and financed by drug funds and ransom payments, the 8,000-strong rebel group drew anger over the past months in Colombia when letters and videos from the hostages were released, including images of former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three U.S. contractors.

Betancourt was chained and looking emaciated. Others, mostly soldiers and police, were chained by the neck.

The four hostages freed today are part of a group of about 43 high-profile captives used by the FARC to gain international recognition and as bargaining tools to force the government to free jailed fighters and set up a demilitarized zone.

Safe Zone

Uribe has repeatedly said he will never allow the FARC a safe haven like the Switzerland-sized free zone set up by former President Andres Pastrana in 1998 to promote peace talks. Gechem played a role in dismantling that experiment.

Gechem, then the president of the Colombia Senate's peace commission, was kidnapped on Feb. 20, 2002, when guerrillas hijacked a commercial jet and forced it to land on a highway.

The government at the time had aerial photographs that showed the FARC had built more than 25 illegal airstrips to fly out drug shipments as well as training camps and a prison.

Gechem's capture brought an end to peace talks and marked the start of an offensive by Uribe, who replaced Pastrana in August 2002, to crush the rebels after more four decades of violence.

Easing Violence

Congresswoman Gloria Polanco de Losada was seized in 2001 along with her two sons. Her husband, former lawmaker and governor of Huila province, Jaime Losada Perdomo, was killed after paying a ransom for the boys who were each held three years.

Lawmakers Orlando Beltran Cuellar and Luis Eladio Perez, a diabetic who fell into a coma while in captivity, have both been held about six years.

Donehoo, who worked for U.S. military intelligence, said repeated captive releases may foster confidence on both sides, which could in turn improve the likelihood of a wider hostage swap for jailed rebels.

Since his election in 2002, Uribe has launched a military crackdown on the FARC and on the smaller National Liberation Army as well as their rightist paramilitary foes.

Kidnapping has fallen by 83 percent since 2002 and homicides are down 40 percent, according to government figures. Terrorist attacks are down 76 percent.