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Archive
8/31/2004 : Positive answer by the government
The government said Monday it would consider a demand from Colombia's main rebel group to hold face-to-face talks over swapping jailed insurgents for dozens of hostages, including three U.S. military contractors.
8/29/2004 : Official killed in Colombia
Farc rebels killed a mayor and a former town council member after abducting them at a roadblock; dozens of municipal officials and candidates running for office have been killed by the rebels, and by their right-wing paramilitary foes, since 2000.
8/28/2004 : Families request true negociations
Families of sequestered people request true negociations - not exchange of notes via Internet
8/27/2004 : US slams Colombia prisoner plan
US ambassador William Wood effectively torpedoed the Colombian government's proposals to effect a prisoner exchange - and the colombian government does not show excessive enthusiasm for negociations either : they propose to negociate.... by E-mail !
8/26/2004 : Just the Mother of a U.S. Spy
”What? The Colombian government doesn't recognise that there's a war going on here? But people are killed here every day!” Jo Rosano, the mother of Marc Goncalves, a U.S. intelligence agent kidnapped on Feb. 13, 2003 by the leftist guerrillas, said in the capital.
8/25/2004 : Colombia pushes for prisoner exchanges, despite rebel brush-off
Colombia’s government Monday said it would continue pushing for prisoner exchanges hours after the country’s biggest rebel group rejected a proposal that would have seen the release of former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, three US nationals and over 50 others.
8/24/2004 : Families of hostages remain trustful
In spite of the rejection by the FARCs, the families of hostages remain trustful as for successes of future negotiations. Mrs. Yolanda Pulecio, the mother of Ingrid Betancourt, declared to AFP that "the CRAF said NO to the Uribe's proposal, but they did not say NO to negotiations".
8/23/2004 : FARCs reject the proposal
Farcs have rejected the government plan to exchange prisoners. In a statement posted on their website, the rebels said the proposal was "absurd" and "unrealistic". They said it did not allow them to negotiate terms, including how many hostages would be released.
8/20/2004 : Between Hope And Prudence
President Uribe's offer has surprised his country at a time when his position had lately become more radical and because he had always maintained a hard line stance (with regard to a humanitarian exchange).
8/19/2004 : Colombia's government offers to free jailed rebels
Colombia's government has offered to free jailed rebels in exchange for hostages held by the left-wing Farc group - a reversal of earlier policy.
8/18/2004 : Mother of US hostage in Bogota
Parents of hostages currently sequestred by the Farc guerilla, among which the family of Ingrid Betancourt and the mother of a US citizen, American, expressed yesterday in the center of Bogota. They ask for the release of their parents through a humanitarian agreement and reject military rescue operations.
8/16/2004 : Critical juncture in Colombia
According to a report by a U.S. task force of the Council on Foreign Relations, five democracies of the Andes — Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia — are "in peril." The report says Colombia, essentially an armed camp, is the "linchpin" in achieving U.S. goals of stamping out narcoterrorism, shoring up democracy and achieving peace.
8/13/2004 : Mother of Hostage in Colombia Rips US
The mother of a man captured by Colombian rebels says she is sick and tired of the government's response.
8/11/2004 : President Uribe must reaffirm commitment to human rights
Amnesty International expressed its concern at recent statements by President Uribe in which he accused the organisation of, “through its words and actions, [wanting] terrorism to triumph in Colombia”.
8/10/2004 : Colombia to destroy files on human rights workers
Colombia on Tuesday tried to improve its tense relationship with human rights groups and promised to destroy military intelligence files on their workers. "Everyone has to be prepared to admit they have made mistakes," said Defense Minister Jorge Alberto Uribe after meeting representatives of human rights groups in Bogota.
8/10/2004 : Colombia threatens to end talks with paramilitaries
President Alvaro Uribe threatened to call off peace talks with right-wing paramilitaries if they refuse to confine themselves to pre-agreed enclaves in Colombia.
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