" My dear daughter I think of you every day". On 20 February at one o'clock in the morning 3 days before the third anniversary of the kidnapping of Ingrid Betancourt, the former candidate in the Colombian Presidential elections currently held by FARC, Yolanda Pulecio, her mother sent this moving message to her daughter from the studios of Radio Caracol in Colombia.

It is not possible to know if this message was heard or not. The programme " Voices of the Kidnapped" in which Yolanda spoke these words of hope has been running for 11 years now (without much publicity) and it has broadcast more than 100,000 messages. Every Saturday at dawn, Herbin Hoios who is in charge of the programme and a former kidnap victim helps families and friends to communicate (in a one-way fashion) with the 3000 persons that remain kidnapped in the country, by both rebels and paramilitaries.

Ingrid Betancourt is a heroine in France. The President of the Green Oxygen Party (Parti Vert Oxygène) has dual French-Colombian nationality but her fame in France is due, above all to the 500,000 copies of her last book "Anger in my Heart"("La Rage au Coeur"). For some weeks now her image is displayed on a giant poster on the Town Hall in Paris. Other support events continuously take place in other cities in Europe. However, Marelby Agatton, the spokesperson of the Green Party states " the family is not more hopeful because as time passes further complications arise and yet we do not stop our campaign for a single day".

During her campaign for the Presidency, Ingrid vowed to do all in her power to "clean up" her country of its corruption; she accused the current President of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe, of having links with drug traffickers, she asked that talks be held with FARC, she proposed to stop neo-liberalism and wanted to reform Justice and Congress. "We have got to get rid of corruption because otherwise it is going to destroy our country"; she stated in one of her speeches. So, "the southern Joan of Arc" became an " irritating pebble in Uribe's shoe" said her husband Juan-Carlos Lecompte.

This has caused a crisis between France and Colombia. The family has attacked Uribe accusing him of doing nothing to obtain her release and stating that only the intervention of the Chirac government with FARC would be effective. In fact there have already been attempts. The Colombian Ambassador to Paris, Michel Gómez has confirmed that " there have been contacts with some rebel chiefs" more precisely with the second in command of the FARC, Raúl Reyes. Alvarao Uribe has criticised the "double standards" of European countries that, on the one hand, refuse to negotiate with Iraqi rebels but who asking Colombia to negotiate with terrorists groups in its own country.

Humanitarian Agreement

What is involved in this negotiation? Why is it so difficult to reach an agreement between two parties in order to bring about the freedom of political hostages?

According to the latest message from FARC, they are looking for three conditions. Firstly the exchange of 60 hostages in return for the release of 500 imprisoned rebels, including three key figures in the organisation: Simon Trinidad, the leader Sonia, both were extradited to Washington where they are to be accused of among other offences, of drug trafficking; and Rodrigo Granda, who is thought by some to be one of the French Government contacts with the rebels and whom URIBE has accused of planning the kidnapping of Cecilia Cubas, daughter of the former Paraguayan President Raul Cubas. Secondly, they also seek the demilitarisation of two counties in the Valley of Cauca (Praderia and Florida) in order to be able to negotiate and sign the agreement. And finally a political request; recognition of FARC as a revolutionary political organisation so as to be different from paramilitary groups.

As far as the Green Party is concerned things appear very complicated. Uribe is not going to give in; the agreement is impossible to manage according to justice laws in Colombia. It would even be difficult to implement an amnesty law due to the fact that a lot of prisoners are serving sentences for other crimes such as drug trafficking or murder. So the Colombian government pursues a tough policy. In fact last December Uribe had suggested that he would not extradite Simon Trinidad if the rebels would liberate 63 hostages. Not one was freed.

What is happening with regard to FARC ?

Since Ingrid Betancourt was kidnapped three years ago there have been only two videos (one in July 2002 and an other in August 2003) with pictures of the former candidate and a few days ago the secretary general of FARC stated in a series of questions sent by the French newspaper Le Figaro via the Internet that the former candidate was in " good health".