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4:15PM Eastern
Freed hostages land in Venezuela
Two women hostages freed by Colombian Farc rebels have arrived at Santo Domingo, a border town in Venezuela, on board military helicopters.
Clara Rojas and Consuelo Gonzalez had been held for several years.They will now fly to an airport near Caracas where they will meet relatives and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who helped mediate their release.
12:40PM Eastern
Chavez: Rebels free 2 hostages in Colombia : Hugo says the hostages have been released and that will be arriving at Caracas by 2PM. The International Red Cross confirmed that Rojas and Gonzalez were released (link in Spanish) and are on their way to Caracas.
Kate is also following the story and sent the link in Spanish (above).
Earlier today:
Wearing a Fidelesque track suit, Hugo appeared on TV last night announcing the latest on the hostage fiasco:
Chavez launches rescue mission for Colombia hostages
The Venezuelan government today launched a rescue mission to pick up two women hostages held by Colombian rebels, Red Cross officials said.
The operation, organised by the president, Hugo Chávez, began after hostage leaders sent authorities the coordinates of where the two could be found.Chávez immediately dispatched helicopters to collect the pair after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc, agreed to the rescue.
Clara Rojas, an aide to the former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, was kidnapped on a highway in southern Colombia in February 2002. Consuelo Gonzalez, a former congresswoman, was kidnapped in 2001.
Apparently two Venezuelan helicopters have landed in Colombia, with the International Red Cross overseeing the mission.
Of course, there’s no mention of Ingrid Betancourt’s whereabouts, or that of 800 others.
I’ll update this post later today if anything develops.
Prior posts on the two-hostage $500 million fiasco at the links.
LIBERADAS! 😀
http://www.noticias24.com/actualidad/?p=11083