FARC hostage release date announced

The Red Cross announced Monday that the planned release of five FARC hostages will take place on the following Monday, February 7.

Hours after a press conference in which Cordoba announced that the rebels would release the men between Thursday and Sunday, Red Cross delegate announced that the liberation process would not begin until Monday.

The Red Cross, Brazil, Cordoba and NGO Casa de la Mujer are all aiding the hostage release effort.

In her press conference Monday morning, Cordoba said she will be accompanied to Brazil by Hernando Gomez, a partner at Casa de la Mujer, where the former senator now works.

The hostages will be brought from undisclosed locations to three airports in Colombia.

Hostage Marcos Vaquero, a former member of the of San Jose Guaviare council, will be taken to the airport in Villavicencio, the capital of the Meta department. Former Garzon city councilor Armando Acuña will be taken to Florencia, the capital of Caqueta, along with marine Henry Lopez Martinez. Police Major Guillermo Solorzano and army Corporal Salin Sanmiguel will be taken to Ibague, Tolima.

The FARC are planning to release five hostages — a policeman, two military personnel, and two local government officials — between Thursday and Sunday.

Former Senator Piedad Cordoba has a history of negotiating hostage releases with the FARC and in September of 2010 Cordoba was banned from the Senate for having alleged ties with the FARC.

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