Piedad Cordoba: FARC to release hostages by March 16

Senator Piedad Cordoba announced Sunday that the FARC plan to release hostages Pablo Emilio Moncayo and Josue Daniel Calvo sometime between March 12 and March 16.

Liberation negotiator and “Colombians for Peace” leader Cordoba also said that the FARC will announce on March 10 the coordinates of the site where the release will take place.

Cordoba assured the crowds at a political rally in Tolima, where she made the announcement, that the FARC hostages will be home with their families within two weeks.

Cordoba said last week that the Colombian government will not allow the FARC to free the hostages until after the congressional elections on March 14, due to concerns that the release could be exploited for political advantage.

Negotiations over the hostages’ release have been ongoing for nearly a year.

Moncayo has been in FARC captivity since 1997, while Calvo has been held since April last year. Both are Colombian soldiers.

In addition to the hostages, the FARC will also release the remains of policeman Julian Guevara, who died in 2006 after eight years in captivity.

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