Colombia hostage deal fiasco bad news for captives
By Hugh Bronstein
BOGOTA, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Colombia's government and Marxist rebels are likely to toughen their negotiating stances, leaving dozens of kidnap victims in limbo, after a deal to free three hostages crumbled on Monday in a flurry of accusations.
Brokered by Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chavez, the plan to release two women captives and a child born to one of them in captivity had raised hopes for a broader deal to free high-profile hostages including French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt.
But the rescue operation evaporated on Monday with the rebels and Chavez accusing conservative President Alvaro Uribe of wrecking it by ordering military operations in the jungle region where the three captives were believed to be held.
Uribe denied the allegation and accused the rebels of lying. Analysts say it will now be very difficult to revive the rescue mission or negotiate the release of other hostages.
"After this, the guerrillas and the government will dig in their heels," political commentator Daniel Coronell said on Tuesday. "The hostages will probably spend years more in the jungle before another serious effort can be mounted to try to free them."
The three hostages are Consuelo Gonzalez, Clara Rojas and her son Emmanuel, who was fathered by a rebel fighter and is thought to be about four years old.
Rojas was kidnapped during her 2002 vice presidential campaign and Gonzalez, a former lawmaker, was taken in 2001.
Early last month, leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, said they would hand the three over only to fellow left-winger Chavez or someone designated by him.
DISTRUST
Uribe has clashed repeatedly with Chavez but agreed to let him send Venezuelan helicopters marked with the Red Cross symbol deep into its territory to collect the hostages.
As the deal collapsed, Chavez accused Uribe of sabotage. The Colombian leader responded by suggesting the rebels might not even have Emmanuel, saying he may have been secretly turned over to Colombian child welfare officials in 2005.
"Considering the deep distrust between Chavez and Uribe and between Uribe and the FARC, any future effort toward a hostage release will require a wider international effort," said Mauricio Romero, a Bogota-based analyst with the International Center for Transitional Justice think tank
Uribe, whose father was killed in a botched FARC kidnapping over 20 years ago, is popular for cutting violence and crime with his U.S.-backed crackdown on the FARC.
But the guerrilla army still controls wide rural areas used to produce the cocaine that funds its insurgency.
Uribe has refused to grant the FARC's demand for a safe zone where gun-toting guerrillas could hand over 47 kidnapped politicians, police and military officers in exchange for jailed rebels. Among the 47 are Betancourt, snatched in 2002, and three American anti-drug contractors captured in 2003.
"It would help if the United States could be more involved in hostage talks to balance the influence of left-wing governments like Venezuela's and Argentina's," Romero said. "This would give Uribe more confidence in the negotiations."
The United States has kept a low profile in the negotiations, while French President Nicolas Sarkozy has proclaimed the liberation of Betancourt a top foreign policy priority. (Editing by Kieran Murray)
BOGOTA, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Colombia's government and Marxist rebels are likely to toughen their negotiating stances, leaving dozens of kidnap victims in limbo, after a deal to free three hostages crumbled on Monday in a flurry of accusations.
Brokered by Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chavez, the plan to release two women captives and a child born to one of them in captivity had raised hopes for a broader deal to free high-profile hostages including French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt.
But the rescue operation evaporated on Monday with the rebels and Chavez accusing conservative President Alvaro Uribe of wrecking it by ordering military operations in the jungle region where the three captives were believed to be held.
Uribe denied the allegation and accused the rebels of lying. Analysts say it will now be very difficult to revive the rescue mission or negotiate the release of other hostages.
"After this, the guerrillas and the government will dig in their heels," political commentator Daniel Coronell said on Tuesday. "The hostages will probably spend years more in the jungle before another serious effort can be mounted to try to free them."
The three hostages are Consuelo Gonzalez, Clara Rojas and her son Emmanuel, who was fathered by a rebel fighter and is thought to be about four years old.
Rojas was kidnapped during her 2002 vice presidential campaign and Gonzalez, a former lawmaker, was taken in 2001.
Early last month, leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, said they would hand the three over only to fellow left-winger Chavez or someone designated by him.
DISTRUST
Uribe has clashed repeatedly with Chavez but agreed to let him send Venezuelan helicopters marked with the Red Cross symbol deep into its territory to collect the hostages.
As the deal collapsed, Chavez accused Uribe of sabotage. The Colombian leader responded by suggesting the rebels might not even have Emmanuel, saying he may have been secretly turned over to Colombian child welfare officials in 2005.
"Considering the deep distrust between Chavez and Uribe and between Uribe and the FARC, any future effort toward a hostage release will require a wider international effort," said Mauricio Romero, a Bogota-based analyst with the International Center for Transitional Justice think tank
Uribe, whose father was killed in a botched FARC kidnapping over 20 years ago, is popular for cutting violence and crime with his U.S.-backed crackdown on the FARC.
But the guerrilla army still controls wide rural areas used to produce the cocaine that funds its insurgency.
Uribe has refused to grant the FARC's demand for a safe zone where gun-toting guerrillas could hand over 47 kidnapped politicians, police and military officers in exchange for jailed rebels. Among the 47 are Betancourt, snatched in 2002, and three American anti-drug contractors captured in 2003.
"It would help if the United States could be more involved in hostage talks to balance the influence of left-wing governments like Venezuela's and Argentina's," Romero said. "This would give Uribe more confidence in the negotiations."
The United States has kept a low profile in the negotiations, while French President Nicolas Sarkozy has proclaimed the liberation of Betancourt a top foreign policy priority. (Editing by Kieran Murray)
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