An awkward ally in Colombia
For many years, Colombia's largest guerrilla group has held 45 high-profile hostages deep in the country's jungle. Even though the war between the government and the rebels is in a lull, and security in Colombia has greatly improved, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -- known as FARC -- has refused to surrender its prized bargaining chips unless rebel prisoners are released.
The stakes are high because three of the captives are American defense contractors who were kidnapped in 2003 while working on an anti-drug program. French President Nicolas Sarkozy also has an interest in the situation because one of the hostages is a French-Colombian woman who was taken captive during her 2002 presidential campaign.
All previous negotiations to work out a hostage-prisoner swap have flopped. But now there is a chance that progress can be made at what would be a historic meeting in Caracas, Venezuela. Unfortunately, the host and potential broker of the talks is none other than Washington's major nemesis in South America, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
What's going on here?
In early September, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, Washington's closest ally in the region, invited Chavez to help negotiate a hostage-prisoner exchange between his government and FARC. Uribe's success in subduing the guerrilla group, reducing homicides and kidnappings and persuading many paramilitaries to give up their arms has made him enormously popular in Colombia. But he has come under mounting pressure, at home and abroad, to resolve the hostage problem. The mysterious killings in June of 11 former state legislators held by FARC devastated not only their families but much of the country as well.
But is Chavez the right man to help Uribe? Despite being ideological opposites, the two presidents have a surprisingly cordial relationship, with a record of cooperation on energy and economic issues. At $4 billion a year, Venezuela is Colombia's second-largest trading partner. And although many Colombians suspect that Chavez's sympathies lie with FARC, it is his legitimacy in the guerrillas' eyes that prompted Uribe, a consummate pragmatist, to take a chance with the Venezuelan.
