The southern Colombian town of Florencia is ready for the arrival of two FARC hostages who are expected to be released Friday afternoon.
The Brazilian helicopters carrying the team responsible for the pick-up arrived in the town on Thursday and are parked at the Gustavo Artunduaga airport where the release operation will begin and end.
The Colombian armed forces have suspended all military activity in the Caqueta department since 6PM Thursday allowing the safe return of local politician Armando Acuña and marine Henry Lopez.
The Red Cross delegation Thursday confirmed they had received the coordinates of the location where the FARC will surrender their two hostages.
Friday’s release is the second of three hostage releases this week. On Wednesday, the rebels released politician Marcos Baquero. If all goes as planned, two more hostages will be released on Sunday.
The five hostages the FARC is releasing this week make part of a group of 19 “exchangeable” politicial hostages the rebels hope to swap for hundreds imprisoned guerrillas. The guerrilla group is also suspected of holding hundreds of civlians captive for extortion purposes.