Venezuela to help in release of Colombia hostages

By Hugh Bronstein

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia agreed on Wednesday to allow Venezuelan aircraft to land in the country and pick up three hostages held by Marxist rebels, a breakthrough that could lead to the captives' quick release.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a fiery leftist who has been negotiating with rebel leaders and is the only one authorized by them to receive the hostages, unveiled his rescue plan earlier in the day and Colombia's conservative government quickly backed it.

"We authorize this humanitarian mission on its own terms," Foreign Minister Fernando Araujo said.

Under the plan, Chavez will send a convoy of Venezuelan planes and helicopters to the central Colombian town of Villavicencio at the foot of the Andes mountains and then dispatch helicopters to a still unknown meeting point to pick up the hostages.

He said the operation would begin within hours of receiving Colombia's authorization, and the aircraft will bear the insignia of the Red Cross.

The three hostages are Clara Rojas, captured during her 2002 vice presidential campaign, and her young son Emmanuel, fathered in captivity by one of the rebels, as well as former lawmaker Consuelo Gonzalez, who was kidnapped in 2001.

"We have different options for a clandestine handover, but we don't want that, it would be very risky," Chavez told reporters in Caracas. "All sorts of unexpected things could happen. These are mountains and jungles."

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe last month told Chavez to stay out of hostage negotiations with the guerrillas but the anti-American leader continued to talk with the outlawed rebel army, which says it will turn the hostages over only to him or someone he designates.