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Chavez receives pick-up coordinates for hostages

Colombian rebels provided a pickup location for two women that they have held hostage for years, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said, and the Colombian government gave him the green light to launch a rescue mission.

Chavez said on Wednesday that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) sent him the coordinates to pick up Clara Rojas -- an aide to former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt -- and former congresswoman Consuelo Gonzalez. A previous Venezuelan-led mission to free the hostages failed just more than a week ago.

"This morning we received the coordinates there in the Colombian mountains where Clara and Consuelo are," Chavez said during a televised speech. "Hopefully, Clara and Consuelo will be free in the coming hours."

The Colombian government responded promptly, saying it was agreeing to the mission. Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo said that his government would "provide all the necessary guarantees" so the hostages can "return home as soon as possible."

He said the mission would be overseen by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Security guarantees

Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos met on Wednesday night with Red Cross representatives in Bogota to discuss security guarantees, and later said the mission would likely be completed by sundown yesterday.

"We think that's sufficient time" to finish the operation, he said.

Cuba's ambassador to Venezuela would be the only foreign government representative on the Venezuelan-led mission, Santos said.

Earlier, Santos told RCN television that San Jose de Guaviare, a town in a FARC-dominated zone of eastern Colombia, would be the operation center for the mission, and that two helicopters had been authorized for the operation.

Barbara Hintermann, head of the Red Cross in Bogota, said she hoped the hostages would be reunited with family members last night.

Helicopters

Chavez said Venezuela was ready to send the helicopters with Red Cross officials to Guaviare state.

"Hopefully early tomorrow, the Venezuelan helicopters with the Red Cross will leave from some point in Venezuelan territory to look for these two Colombian patriots and finally attain their freedom," he said.

Chavez did not explain how he obtained the coordinates.

Chavez's statements came after an earlier mission failed to obtain the release of Rojas and Gonzalez, along with a three-year-old Colombian boy named Emmanuel -- the product of a relationship between Rojas and a guerrilla fighter.

The guerrillas accused Colombia's military of sabotaging the promised handoff, saying they couldn't release the hostages due to military operations.

But the US-backed government of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said the guerrillas backed out of the deal brokered by Chavez because they didn't have the child hostage as they'd claimed.

Results of a Colombian DNA test later proved Emmanuel has been in a Bogota foster home for more than two years, rather than held captive in the jungle.
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