The Colombian government on Monday set a deadline next month for efforts by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to secure a prisoner swap with the country's main guerrilla group.
The news by Colombia's peace commissioner coincided with the Venezuelan leader's arrival in France to discuss his mediation efforts with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has also been pushing for the exchange.
Dual Colombian-French national Ingrid Betancourt -- seized in 2002 by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) while campaigning for president of Colombia -- is the best-known hostage and has become a cause celebre in France.
By setting the deadline, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's government indicated a diminishing patience with what many Colombians see as a public spectacle by the Venezuelan president.
Chavez's mediation efforts included a Nov. 8 meeting in the Venezuelan capital with a top FARC commander.
The Colombian peace commissioner, Luis Carlos Restrepo, said in reading a brief communique on Monday evening that Chavez and Uribe had discussed a limit for a prisoner swap during this month's Ibero-American Summit in Chile.
"President Uribe told President Chavez that this mediation process should have a time limit, and President Chavez was in agreement," Restrepo said.
"The government today thinks the limit should be the month of December," he said, without explaining the decision or saying whether Chavez had been consulted. Restrepo's comments did not provide a concrete date as deadline, but the wording suggested it was the end of the year.
After arriving in Paris on Monday, Chavez said that during his meeting with Uribe in Chile the Colombian leader said he would be willing to meet with Chavez and the top FARC commander, the septuagenarian Manuel Marulanda.
Restrepo said Uribe was only disposed to meet Marulanda if the FARC releases all its hundreds of prisoners -- not just the 45 high-profile hostages including Betancourt and three US defense contractors.
FARC rebels killed Uribe's rancher father in 1983 in a botched kidnapping and the Colombian president has tenaciously attempted to defeat the peasant-based guerrilla army with an unprecedented US-backed military buildup.
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
RSS