Colombian peace commissioner Frank Pearl said Monday that if hostage Josue Daniel Calvo is as sick as the FARC claim, then the guerrilla organization should release him and not endanger his life.
Pearl was responding to a FARC statement released Monday, which announced Calvo’s poor condition and blamed the Colombian government for the delay in the long-anticipated liberation of Calvo and fellow soldier Pablo Emilio Moncayo.
The peace commissioner reiterated the state’s official stance that police and military operations cannot be suspended around the congressional elections on March 14 to facilitate the hostage liberation.
Pearl said the security protocol for the liberation is being prepared but the operation will not happen until after the elections.
Colombian officials and the guerrilla organization have been squabbling over the terms of Moncayo and Calvo’s release since the FARC first announced that it would release the hostages, in April 2009.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe believes the FARC are intentionally trying to postpone the hostage release until close to the national elections in order to discredit the government.
Moncayo has been in FARC captivity since 1997, while Calvo has been held since April last year.
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.