Chavez begins Colombia hostage rescue bid

By Nelson Bocanegra

VILLAVICENCIO, Colombia (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez sent helicopters into Colombia on Friday to pick up three hostages, including a boy born in captivity and held for years by Marxist rebels in jungle camps.

The two helicopters arrived in the flat, hot and humid town of Villavicencio at the foot of Colombia's Andes mountains on Friday afternoon and will fly off to collect the hostages when the rebel captors give them the go-ahead.

Speaking at a Venezuelan military base as the helicopters took off for Colombia, the socialist Chavez said the main rescue operation had been delayed until the weekend because the rebels had not yet told him where the hostages are being held.

"We have a little problem," said Chavez, a former paratrooper, as he crouched over a map, dressed in military fatigues and a red beret. "There is bad weather, they are traveling and they have difficulty communicating in the jungle."

He had earlier said Consuelo Gonzalez, Clara Rojas and her son Emmanuel could be free within hours. Emmanuel, whose father is a guerrilla fighter, was born in a rebel camp and is thought to be four years old.

Although wary of Chavez and his fierce anti-U.S. rhetoric, Colombia's conservative government this week agreed to let him fly Venezuelan aircraft painted with the colors of the Red Cross deep into its territory to collect the hostages.

Chavez was told last month by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to stay out of hostage negotiations with guerrilla leaders but he apparently continued with secret talks and negotiated the freedom of the three captives.

LONG WAR