Chavez basks in hostage release triumph

By Frank Jack Daniel

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, hit by recent setbacks to his socialist revolution, scored a major political victory on Thursday by winning the freedom of two hostages held by Colombia's Marxist rebels.

Colombia's conservative government last year told the fiery Chavez to drop his negotiations with guerrilla leaders but Chavez insisted and secured the release from a jungle camp of two women politicians, Clara Rojas and Consuelo Gonzalez.

The deal raises hopes for dozens of other captives languishing in secret camps and vindicates the efforts of the left-wing president, who was widely criticized when a previous attempt to free the hostages collapsed on New Year's Eve.

The hostages' freedom also brought international praise for Chavez, a fierce critic of the United States, and he even received grudging acknowledgment from Washington.

Analysts said Chavez's international reputation was boosted by the deal, just a month after he suffered a stunning defeat at home in a referendum vote on extending his powers.

"With this tangible and welcome result, Chavez can now claim that he is a regional leader committed to peace," said Michael Shifter, a Latin American expert at the Inter-American Dialogue think tank.

After their release, the delighted Chavez brought the two women to Caracas, where he was photographed hugging them, stroking Rojas' hair and holding Gonzalez' granddaughter on the steps of the Miraflores presidential palace.

Chavez often rails against the U.S. government and has clashed repeatedly with his rivals in Latin America and Spain.

The opposition says his abrasive, folksy style damages Venezuela's reputation abroad but he sees himself as an influential statesman and has improved ties with U.S. antagonists such as Russia and Iran.

Chavez vowed on Thursday to work to free more of Colombia's war hostages and for a peace deal in the decades-old war. He invited Colombia's government and guerrilla leaders to hold peace talks on Venezuelan soil.

"I am prepared to place a humanitarian peace camp in Venezuela," he said. "Let's start a peace dialogue, not only to free them, that's the first step, the second step is peace."

It was the first major release by Colombia's guerrilla army in more than six years, and rebel leaders made clear they would only hand over the captives to Chavez or one of his envoys.

Speaking by satellite phone from the jungle clearing where they were handed over, the two women heaped praise on Chavez.

"I don't know how to tell you, how to express my thanks for your humanitarian effort," Gonzalez told him in images broadcast repeatedly on television. She asked Chavez to keep trying for the release of more hostages.

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