Colombia says Chavez bolsters rebels' hostage stance

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's political backing for Colombia's Marxist guerrillas will make it harder to secure a deal to release dozens of hostages held by rebel leaders, the Colombian government said.

Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo said FARC guerrillas would harden their position since receiving public support from Chavez, who leads a bloc of left-wing presidents in Latin America and is a fierce critic of U.S. policies.

"For the moment, we see a tougher position ... motivated by the political space which President Hugo Chavez has tried to open for them," Restrepo said in a document published on Monday on the peace commission's Web site.

Chavez wants the FARC rebels removed from foreign terrorism lists after the guerrillas handed two hostages over to his government in January.

Colombia's conservative government at first backed Chavez's efforts to win the release of dozens of captives held for years by Latin America's oldest insurgency group, but later accused him of favoring the rebels.

"The incendiary statements in recent days have stimulated them to toughen their position, which for the moment makes the possibility of a negotiated solution more distant," Restrepo said.

Chavez calls Colombian President Alvaro Uribe a pawn of U.S. "imperialism", and he maintains contact with the FARC -- the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -- the country's largest rebel group.

Washington calls the FARC cocaine-smuggling terrorists and the rebels have been pushed back by a U.S.-funded security campaign. Violence has ebbed although the FARC is still fighting in rural areas where the state's presence is weak.

Guerrillas are holding 44 high-profile captives they want to free in exchange for the release of rebels held in prison.