A glimmer of hope emerged for dozens of hostages -- including three US citizens -- held by Colombian rebels after President Alvaro Uribe offered to release some 50 jailed guerrillas as part of a broad prisoner swap.
The proposal indicated a shift in policy for the hardline Uribe, who has long argued against a prisoner exchange on the grounds that it would only encourage more kidnappings.
Though not made public until Wednesday, the offer was delivered to FARC leaders on July 23 by Swiss government officials acting as mediators, Uribe spokesman Ricardo Galan told reporters.
Galan said, however, that before any exchange can take place, the government must be given guarantees that any freed rebels aren't able to commit further crimes. The FARC have so far not responded to the offer, he said. Hopes emerged that the proposal could lead to eventual peace talks.
The government has previously said any rebels released from prison would have to go abroad to ensure they cannot rejoin rebel ranks. But the proposal announced Wednesday said freed guerrillas could stay in Colombia if they enter a government-sponsored reinsertion program.
The FARC kidnaps hundreds of people each year either for ransom or political reasons as part of its 40-year-old campaign to topple the government.
The rebel group has included a former presidential candidate, three US military contractors and dozens of politicians and soldiers it is holding on a so-called list of political prisoners it says it will only free in exchange for hundreds of jailed rebels.
Relatives of some of the hostages met with Uribe earlier in the day and immediately welcomed his proposal.
"The president has indicated he's ready to free 50 to 60 guerrillas first and after that all the political hostages, including the Americans, would be freed," said Angela Giraldo, sister of a regional congressman who was kidnapped two years ago by FARC rebels.
The policy shift came as Uribe, who has maintained a hard line toward the rebels during his two years in office, faced mounting criticism from the victims' families, who said his refusal to negotiate with the FARC had condemned their loved ones to slowly die in the jungle. The mother of one the three US captives made her first visit to Colombia last week and accused the US and Colombian governments of abandoning her son.
"What are they doing? What is the progress? Anything?" Jo Rosano, mother of hostage Marc Gonsalves, said last Thursday. "I believe the United States is just lying."
Gonsalves, Keith Stansell and Thomas Howes were seized in February last year after their single-engine plane crashed in a southern FARC stronghold.
During the previous administration of President Andres Pastrana, the Colombian government swapped a dozen jailed FARC rebels for 250 soldiers who were being held by the guerrillas.
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