UPDATE: BREAKING: CHÁVEZ FREES FARC PRISONERS. GONZALEZ & ROJAS ARRIVE IN VENEZUELA! (Venezuela's "Operación Humanitaria") PHOTOS ADDED By Les Blough in Venezuela Jan 10, 2008, 16:38

 

Former hostage Clara Rojas, right, reunited with her mother, Clara Gonzalez de Rojas	Former hostage Consuelo Gonzalez, left, hugs her smiling daughter Patricia Perdomo.

Clara Rojas(R) and Consuelo Gonzalez de Perdomo(L) are greeted by Piedad Cordoba and German Sanchez Otero(2ndR) in the Colombian jungle.	Clara Rojas smiles next to a member of the International Committee of the Red Cross before boarding a helicopter to Venezuela

Consuelo Gonzalez (C) walks next to her daughters, Patricia (R) and Maria Fernanda Perdomo as she holds her granddaughter.	Clara rojas (L) walks next to her mother, Clara de Rojas, 76 after a tearful reunion.

FARC prisoner Clara Rojas waves as she arrives to the Maiquetia airport near Caracas. (AP)	President Chávez in a press conference earlier today.

 

Ms Gonzalez (left) and Ms Rojas were taken prisoner by FARC in 2001 and 2002

Update VII: Clara Rojas have now landed at Bolivarian Int'l Airport, Caracas. Family members and many friends are overwhelming them on the tarmac with hugs, kisses and flowers in an emotional reunion that no words can describe. Yes, this liberation has huge implications politically and internationally. But the reunion we are watching now is what this mission is all about. Axis of Logic salutes Ms. Rojas, Ms. Gonzalez, Senadora Piedad Córdoba and President Chávez for their success.

-Les Blough in Venezuela

Update VI

Rojas and Conzalez arrive in Venezuela

Minutes ago, Clara Rojas and Consuelo Gonzalez arrived in Santa Domingo, Venezuela aboard Red Cross helicopters. The two women were freed by the FARC resistance in Colombia, following successful mediation by President Chávez and Colombian Sen. Piedad Córdoba. As they stepped out of the helicopters an emotional scene ensued as medical personnel greeted them with hugs. After disembarking from the Red Cross helicopters with Sen. Córdoba who made the journey with them, they immediately boarded a jet en-route to Caracas. 

Dramatic video from the Colombian Jungle

After the jet left for Caracas, first-time video appeared on TeleSur of the women. The video was made just before they left the Colombian jungle where they lived as prisoners for 5&6 years. Ms. Rojas and Ms. Gonzalez were greeted by Colombian Sen. Píeded Córdoba who worked with Chávez to gain their freedom. Then, surrounded by FARC soldiers in the jungle, Ms. Rojas and Ms. Gonzalez received a telephone call from President Chávez. Amidst laughter and tears, they thanked him over and over for gaining their freedom from prison. Before boarding the helicopter for their trip to Venezuela, the two women warmly shook hands and said their goodbyes with their FARC captors, who immediately after, faded into the jungle.

We will report more as this drama continues to unfold in Caracas.

- Les Blough in Venezuela

Update V: January 10, 2007 - Operation Emmanuel was suspended on January 1 due to interference by President Álvaro Uribe and the Colombian Military (scroll down for more information in previous updates). There has been little to no news on the operation since then. However, TeleSur is reporting today that the two Red Cross helicopters, flown by Venezuelan pilots returned to pick up Clara Rojas and Consuelo Gonzalez yesterday.

President Chávez spoke to both women by telephone from Caracas. After talking with them he told reporters the women were emotional and in good health. He stated, "They are free. I told them both: 'Welcome to life'." 

Ms Gonzalez, 57, was taken prisoner by FARC in 2001. Ms Rojas, 44, was an aide to former Colombian presidential candidate, Ingrid Betancourt, a French-Colombian citizen. She was taken prisoner in 2002 when she and Ms. Betancourt were campaigning inside FARC-held territory.

At this time, the two women are on their return flight and are expected to arrive in Caracas in about 2 hours time. Clara Rojas' 3 year old son, Emmanuel, is not on this flight. In the midst of Chávez last attempt to complete this operation, President Uribe announced that the boy has been in the custody of the Colombian government for more than a year (scroll down for background). TeleSur and VTV are reporting that President Chávez obtained new permission to re-enter Colombia air space yesterday. President Chávez stated that when he requested renewed permission for the flights, the Colombian government promised to "provide all the necessary guarantees".

Many view the success of this operation as a coup for President Chávez who has been able to do more in the space of 2 months than President Uribe and the Colombian government have accomplished in many years. This is particularly significant considering that the mission began as a "prisoner exchange". When Uribe began seeing the possibility of success a month ago, he backed out of his agreement and stopped the mission. FARC responded by agreeing with Mr. Chávez to release some prisoners unilaterally without an exchange for government-held FARC prisoners.

President Chávez is now in a good position to secure more FARC-held prisoners in exchange for members of FARC who have been imprisoned by the Colombian government. President Uribe has effectively painted himself into a corner. President Chávez has done his job well and FARC showed good faith in releasing these two women. What Uribe does when pressed back into negotiations for a prisoner exchange remains to be seen. Since he went back on his word and sabotaged the first effort for a prisoner exchange, he has been intransigient.

Axis of Logic will continue to continue to keep you informed as this story develops today.

- Les Blough in Venezuela

Update IV: January 1, 2008 - Operation Emmanuel has been suspended. President Chávez specifically stated that it has been "suspended but not aborted" in a news conference today. Chávez added, "there is no deadline". We reported yesterday (Update III, below) that FARC reported that the Colombian military was operating in the immediate area of the rendevous for prisoner release. Today, BBC reported,

"FARC is prohibited and unable to give up the hostages due to fear for their safety and the safety of any guerrilla members involved in the operation" amid "intense military activity in the zone".

Today, President Chávez read a letter received from FARC which read in part, "In these conditions it would put in grave risk the lives of these people to free them". The letter also stated "As soon as there is certainty of a safe place for the release of the hostages, this one will take place". Uribe denied that Colombian troops are operating in the area and stated that FARC does not have one of the prisoners they say they will release, the son of Clara Rojas. He indicated that the Colombian government believes his government has had the boy in their custody for some time but failed to provide evidence of this. He is demanding DNA tests to prove that the boy in Colombian custody is indeed "Emmanuel". However, it is not clear why Uribe has not yet conducted the DNA testing he wants, comparing the DNA of the boy in question with the DNA of Clara Rojas' mother (who would be the boy's grandmother), now in Colombia.

Why Uribe has not released this information in the past and prior to the launch of "Operation Emmanuel" is unknown. Indeed the reason why he has released this information in the midst of an extremely delicate, Venezuelan-led operation suggests an attempt to sabotage the mission. Likewise, it is difficult to understand why FARC would make arrangements with President Chávez to release the boy if they do not have him. These factors raise questions about the veracity of Uribe's claims about the boy and Uribe's motivations. However, none of this can be known with surety until the mission has been completed.

In their report today, the BBC stated, "It is believed that the Colombian government wants to regain the initiative with respect to the prisoner exchange". The fact is that the Colombian government cannot "regain the initiative" because it never has any "initiative" to regain. They have failed miserably to initiate any type of discussions about prisoner exchange with the FARC until President Chávez was asked to mediate. It should be clear to everyone following this story that Washington and Bogota do not want President Chávez to receive international recognition for a successful prisoner release by FARC. Imagine Hugo Chávez Frias, President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela as a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008, for example.

There are many news stories published today providing conjecture about the reasons for the suspension and future of the mission. We are conducting investigative research into these 2 issues and will report again tomorrow night when we have greater confidence in additional information we have received.

- Les Blough in Venezuela

Previous Updates on this story ...

Update III: December 31 - 4 days ago, 2 Venezuelan International Red Cross helicopters left Buenaventura Vivas Guerrero Airbase in Western Venezuela near the Colombian frontier to pick up the prisoners. Yesterday and today, they have been waiting in the Colombian City of Villavicencio (see maps in earlier Axis updates) for the FARC to send coordinates where the prisoners are to be released.

¦¡lvaro Uribe, President of Colombia created the first complication in the operation by arbitrarily inserting a demand that the operation be completed by last night, December 30. Today Uribe further complicated the mission with the inexplicable demand that the Colombian government conduct DNA tests on Emmanuel, the young son of Clara Rojas to prove that she is indeed his mother. In addition, it appears that the Colombian government has inserted troops in close proximity to the rendevous point which cannot possibly facilitate the handover of the prisoners.

Look for new information within this up-to-the hour update for the latest developments in this historic mission. 

 - Les Blough in Venezuela

Update II: December 30 - Representatives of many Latin American and European countries are in Venezuela to attend and monitor the historic Venezuelan Mission Emmanuel being carried out to secure the release of FARC POWs in the jungles of Colombia. With the exception of a few articles in the print media, maligning the characters of President Hugo Ch¦Ávez and FARC leaders, the Western Media is for the most part ignoring this mission.

But the eyes of most everyone in Latin America are fixed upon the progress with the release of some of the FARC POWs in Colombia. There have been no dramatic developments today. News reports on VTV and TeleSur indicate that the Venezuelan Red Cross helicopters dispatched yesterday to pick up those to be released are waiting at some place near the Venezuelan border. They are waiting for FARC to provide them with the coordinates for the place in the Colombian jungle for rendevous.

Late today (Saturday), President Chavez said, ""They are still waiting for the details to complete the operation. We hope it will be tomorrow or the day after." This is an extremely delicate operation as the US-backed Colombian government and US operatives are also monitoring this transmission of coordinates to be provided by their avowed enemy, the FARC. We cannot know what their response might but many believe that they cannot be trusted with this information. Neither has a political interest in seeing the Venezuelan government succeed in this mission. Also, today foul weather in the Colombian jungle and the arrival of nightfall have become factors in the delay.

A report on these developments was reported tonight by Agence France-Presse (AFP) today. The AFP report is more-or-less accurate. But two key paragraphs are ones to read well:

"Marco Aurelio Garcia, an advisor to Brazilian President Luiz Ignacio Lula Da Silva, said Saturday the group of observers would probably not have any contact with the guerrillas. It would be a great risk for them because they are probably being watched by Colombian security forces, he told Radio del Plata in Venezuela."

and

"The Colombian government said Thursday that under a deadline set with Venezuelan officials the operation to pick up the three hostages must be completed by Sunday evening."

We note that the Colombian government has failed to resolve the civil war in their country for 40 years. Now the US-backed Uribe government is placing a deadline on an extremely difficult mission, requiring that the FARC-held POWs be picked up by the Venezuelan Red Cross helicopters in 2 days -i.e by Sunday evening. Or what?

A group of internationational delegates are present to monitor the mission including former Argentine president Nestor Kirchner, representatives from France, Switzerland, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador and Bolivia, as well as US filmmaker Oliver Stone and others.

TelsSur and VTV conducted interviews today with family members of those to be released. They tearfully expressed their hope for the safe passage of their loved ones. They also expressed extreme gratitude to President Ch¦Ávez and the Venezuelan government for undertaking this mission. In one interview a sister of a POW stated, "We know that this mission is difficult and not easy" for President Ch¦Ávez. In another interview, the mother of Clara Rojas and grandmother of Emmanuel, his parents, Clara Rojas a POW and a FARC soldier in Colombia, also expressed her thankfulness to President Ch¦Ávez. At this time it appears that we may not see the dramatic return of these POWs before Monday, New Years Day. But because this mission carries so much import and is so complex, anything could happen between now and then. We will provide up-to-the-hour reports on any new developments of this intriguing and dramatic story.

- Les Blough in Venezuela

Update I: December 29 - During the hour past, President Ch¦Ávez held a press conference at Buenaventura Vivas Guerrero Airbase in Tachira State near the Colombian frontier in Western Venezuela. Using maps, Ch¦Ávez showed the route Venezuelan pilots would use to fly into the jungles of Colombia to pick up Colombian prisoners of war taken by the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia). After ¦¡lvaro Uribe, president of Colombia, backed out of a Ch¦Ávez-mediated agreement for prisoner exchange with FARC, FARC decided to release some of the POWs voluntarily and unilaterally as a goodwill gesture.

The route indicated by President Ch¦Ávez followed south along the Venezuelan-Colombian border before entering Colombian territory. A large number of journalists and Latin American dignitaries are present including Nestor Kirchner, former president of Argentina and Piedad C¦Òrdoba, Senadora from Colombia who has worked with Ch¦Ávez in his mediation for the release of the POWs.

Representatives of a number of other Latin American countries are also present. Drawing a hearty laugh from the crowd, Ch¦Ávez also introduced Oliver Stone, also present, as "a representative of President Bush".

Map showing the location the FARC stronghold from which they control much of Southern Colombia

Phase One

A few minutes ago, two (2) Venezuelan International Red Cross helicopters, flown by Venezuelan pilots lifted off from Buenaventura Vivas Guerrero Airbase and embarked on their 2 1/2 hour journey to a secret place in FARC-held, Colombian territory. President Ch¦Ávez stated that this is "Phase One" of the mission.

Venezuela and Colombia share a 2500 kilometer (1375 mile) border. The 2 helicopters of Operation Emmanuel are flying south along the border before they will enter into the Colombian jungle to meet with the FARC to pick up the POWs.

Phase Two

Following the liftoff, Telesur reporters continued their interviews of President Ch¦Ávez. He indicated that the POWs are not expected to be brought to Venezuela until tomorrow as there are legal details and security concerns that must be worked out with the government in Bogot¦Á before the POWs will be flown to Venezuela. He described the security concerns as "unforseen possibilities" that could occur during this dangerous mission (see Axis of Logic article below).

This mission has been named, "Operation Emmanuel," after a young boy who is the son of POW Clara Rojas and a FARC soldier.

Return to Axis of Logic for the latest updates in English on Operation Emmanuel.

- Les Blough, Editor

Source: Live TeleSur Broadcast, Friday, December 28, 2007

Background from previous articles

Venezuelan Air Force set to pick up POWs in the jungles of Colombia following successful mediation by President Ch¦Ávez

By Les Blough, Editor, Axis of Logic

After 40 years of civil war in Colombia between the now US backed Colombian government, the FARC and ELN resistance armies, a possible breakthrough has been achieved. Months ago, in what now appears to be a a premeditiated plan to discredit President Hugo Chavez, President Uribe of Colombia invited Chavez to mediate an exchange of prisoners held by the Colombian government and those held by FARC.

President Uribe appeared to give Chavez "an offer he couldn't refuse". If he refused to become involved he would appear to refuse to offer help. If he accepted he could be made to appear as involved somehow with the FARC which the U.S. has declared a "terrorist organization". Chavez agreed to try to help and after he began to achieve success, Uribe abandoned the mission. FARC apparently saw the Uribe manipulation in progress and notified President Chavez that they would release unilaterally some of the prisoners they held without conditions.

However, FARC insisted that prisoners would only be released to Venezuela or other Latin American countries outside Colombia because they did not trust the Colombian government to protect the prisoners during the release and transit. Remember, Colombia is in a state of civil war which is never reported as such in the corporate media. With radical FARC factions perhaps not agreeing with the prisoner release, ELN guerilla columns in the jungle, government-backed, right wing paramilitaries operating in the area, the Colombian army and last but not least some 3000 US Special Forces "invited" by the Uribe government in the context of Plan Colombia also armed and in the region, there is plenty of scope for this humanitarian interchange to be sabotaged by, for example, someone taking a "pot shot" at one of the helicopters. Therein lies the FARC's concern.

Reportedly, the prisoners held by FARC are to be released tomorrow in what President Chavez has termed "Operation Emmanuel". On the one hand, the release is awaited with great anticipation; on the other, there is fear in Latin America that the Uribe regime or some other disaffected grouip wanting to foment even more chaos in Colombia - as there now exists in Pakistan after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto - will interfere with the safe passage of these prisoners.

- Les Blough, Editor

Colombian hostages set for Friday release: diplomats
Agence France-Presse
December 26, 2007

CARACAS (AFP) - The eagerly anticipated release of three hostages held by the Colombian Marxist rebel group FARC is to take place on Friday, diplomats responsible for monitoring the operation said.

"We are awaiting the arrival of international envoys for this operation, which will take place on Friday," Venezuela's ambassador to Colombia, Pavel Rondon, told Colombian radio on Thursday.

"Like everyone in Colombia, Venezuela and the entire world, we are awaiting the liberation of these three people," added the diplomat, currently in Caracas.

The hostages set for release are former lawmaker Consuelo Gonzalez de Perdomo, 57; Clara Rojas, 44; and Emmanuel, 3, the son Rojas bore to a rebel in captivity. The women were snatched in 2001 and 2002 respectively.

The handover is the first time in more than five years that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has unilaterally released so-called "political" hostages.

Rojas was the presidential campaign manager of French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt when the two were abducted by FARC in February 2002. Betancourt remains in captivity.

They are among 45 hostages, including three Americans, whom the rebels want to exchange for some 500 FARC members held by the Colombian government. But the two sides have not agreed on conditions for the swap.

The FARC announced December 18 it would release three hostages to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez or his representative, but doubts had grown as the three remained in rebel hands through Christmas.

"The operation will take place tomorrow (Friday)," Marco Aurelio Garcia, the special envoy of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, told CBN radio.

"We have firm hope that this will be the first step in a long process, aimed first at resolving the hostage crisis and secondly at finding a peaceful solution to the conflict that has gripped Colombia for more than 40 years," he said.

Chavez on Wednesday outlined his plan to pluck the three from a secret location deep in the jungle, which Bogota quickly approved.

The release "has been agreed to the tiniest detail with the FARC commanders," said Chavez, who has been involved in mediation efforts with the rebels.

Under the plan, Venezuelan airplanes and helicopters will fly into Colombia with representatives of France, Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Bolivia and Ecuador, as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross, on board.

Venezuelan aircraft used to transport the hostages are to be marked with the Red Cross emblem.

"We have offered our good offices as a guarantee of neutrality for the release of the hostages and the Colombian and Venezuelan governments have asked us to participate in the mission," ICRC spokesman Marcal Izard told AFP in Geneva.

Chavez said the airborne caravan would travel to the Colombian city of Villavicencio, in Meta department, which lies approximately one hour's flight from the border and 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Bogota.

From there two helicopters will fly to a rendez-vous point that will be set by the FARC and communicated only to Venezuelan authorities.

The freed hostages were to be taken to Venezuela before returning to Colombia.

"As soon as they are released, we will be ready to transport them to Colombia," Chavez said, "so that Clara, Consuelo and Emmanuel can be home to celebrate the New Year."

Envoys from participating countries were converging on Caracas, including former Argentine president Nestor Kirchner.

Fifteen family members of the hostages were to arrive in Caracas aboard a private plane late Thursday, according to a spokesman for a Colombian senator.

"We are leaving for Caracas today in the early afternoon," Maria Fernanda Perdomo, a daughter of Consuelo Gonzalez, said in Bogota.

"I am happy and eager to see her. I want to tell her that I adore her, that I'm dying to be with her, and I thank her infinitely for having had the bravery to survive these six years and three months in captivity," she said.

On Wednesday, Ivan Rojas, a brother of Clara Rojas, said relatives would prefer the hostages be brought directly to Bogota.

"It's not worth transporting them to Caracas, it's a waste," he said, declining to comment on the politics that might be involved.

[Axis editorial note inserted: The mothers of Ingrid Betancourt and Clara Rojas appeared on television last week, thanking President Chavez for his mediation and help. - LMB]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071227/wl_afp/
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