Families of dozens of hostages held in jungle hideouts by Colombia's leftist rebels said they hope new evidence the captives may be alive will pressure President Alvaro Uribe's government and the rebels to reach a deal ending their years of captivity.
On Friday, the government announced that an army raid in which three suspected members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were captured turned up a series of videos of and letters from the kidnapped, which include three Americans and French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt.
"I pray this pressures the government and the rebels to agree to free my son," said Jo Rosano, mother of Marc Gonsalves, who was kidnapped along with two other US defense contractors in February 2003 when their plane went down in rebel territory in southern Colombia.
Gonsalves was shown in one of the mostly silent videos standing in front of a jungle backdrop, dressed in a T-shirt and rubber boots.
"Hi Mariana," said another of the Americans, Thomas Howes. "I'm sending you this note on the 22nd of October, 2007. I was very proud of hearing your voice on the radio. ... I love you very much, you and the boys, please send my best to the family. I've got a letter for you and a will, a last testament that I'm going to give. Hopefully it will get passed to you."
"Again I love you very much Mariana," he continued. "To my company, thank you very much for taking care of our families and I ask you to please continue to do so. thank you," he said.
In another video, Betancourt sits in the sweltering jungle, her gaunt face bowed and staring blankly at the ground. She clutches a rosary in one hand. Only when her head moves slightly is it apparent that the image is video, not a still photograph.
The US said on Friday it would analyze the videos.
"The initial indications are that it does provide some proof of life of several of the hostages including American hostages, and we are going to be in close contact with the families of the American hostages," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
Betancourt's daughter, Melanie Delloye, said the images underscore the urgency of winning the captives' release.
"Mama and the other hostages are unwell. They are very, very unwell, and it's really urgent to get them out of there," she told France-2 television.
If Betancourt is not released soon, "we're going to lose her in that jungle, we're going to lose her."
Betancourt and the three Americans are among 46 high-profile hostages held by the FARC. The guerrillas are demanding hundreds of rebels imprisoned in Colombia and the US -- including one scheduled to be sentenced tomorrow after being convicted of conspiring to kidnap the Americans -- be released in exchange for their freedom, but movement toward an exchange has long been frustrated.
Uribe and the rebels have not met face to face in five years, have refused to budge on key points of contention and share great personal enmity -- Uribe's father was killed by the FARC more than two decades ago, while the rebels refer to the president as a "Tropical Fuhrer."
"Videos released today do renew the pressure on Uribe to start some process," said Adam Isacson, an analyst at the Washington-based Center for International Policy.
Hope for a deal picked up steam in recent months after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez took on a role as a mediator.
But Uribe ended Chavez's role last week, saying the Venezuelan leader disobeyed him by talking with Colombia's army chief.
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