Colombia Reports

Most of the 700 hostages assumed to still be held captive by the FARC are already dead, Colombia's vice-President Francisco Santos said in an interview with Canadian television station CBC.Santos, former editor of Colombian newspaper El Tiempo and founder of the País Libre foundation, an organization defending the well being of hostages in Colombia, says the FARC has neither shown any signs of life of most of the hostages, nor has it been in touch to demand ransom."Let me clarify, a lot of those 700 are people the FARC kidnapped 10-15 years ago, 8 years ago, and nothing has been known about them. Most of them, we think, are already dead, and the FARC [has] cut all contact with the family. So I would say at this precise moment, we still don't have the numbers. No more than 50-100 — and I know that's a big range — hostages are alive," Santos said on Canadian television show 'Around the World'.Santos repeated the Colombian government would continue taking a tough stance with the FARC and refuses the guerrillas' conditions for a "humanitarian agreement". The FARC demands the release of 500 of their men, including those extradited to the U.S. and a demilitarized zone where the exchange can be discussed.