The liberation of six FARC hostages has begun, Colombian
opposition senator and mediator Piedad Córdoba said Thursday.
According to Córdoba, a South American country other than Venezuela and Ecuador will facilitate the liberation. She didn’t say which country is the facilitator of helicopters, in order not to damage the process.
The Colombian government doesn’t want other countries to be involved in the process, but has allowed the International Red Cross to use foreign helicopters for the liberation.
Córdoba also didn’t mention a term in which the hostages could be liberated, or if there had been a solution for the deadlock about the foreign observer the rebels had demanded for the release of the four members of the security forces and the two politicians.
Senator Córdoba’s announcement was made a day after Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos had declared that the liberation ‘was stuck in a kind of freezer’ and news broke the Government had turned down U.S. representative Jim McGovern as foreign observer of the liberation process.
The Government Thursday denied ever having received the official proposal to allow McGovern as guarantor, but reiterated its position on foreign involvement in the mission.
Bogotá wants the Vatican to provide the foreign observer, something considered as unacceptable for the FARC.
Santos’ remarks caused surprise and indignation. Family members of the hostages said that Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo is the appropriate person to pronounce himself about the issue.