This month more than 3,600 letters were sent from Europe to Bogotá in Colombia as part of the "Aéropostale 3000" campaign launched in Europe by the International Federation of Ingrid Betancourt Committees, in partnership with the French town of Chambery.

French woman Pascale Fressoz, vice-president of the NGO is responsible for the campaign, the aim of which is " to make sure that the situation of the hostages will be spoken about and not forgotten, not allowing them to die alone in the forest"

The campaign involves all those hostages kidnapped by either the FARC or ELN between 1997 and 2003, among them the former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three Americans.

"We are aware that the Colombian government has re-opened possibilities for a humanitarian agreement with FARC who wish to exchange about 60 of their hostages for 500 FARC rebels in prison ", stated Ms Fressoz.

The offer by the Colombian government to FARC of an immediate meeting " must be encouraged by all so that both sides can come to a firm agreement" and that it will not be a false hope " such as happened on previous occasions", she added.

The letters were delivered to the NGO, Asfamipaz in Bogotá, an organisation of families of policemen and soldiers held hostage.

The International Federation of Ingrid Betancourt Committees are made up of approximately 80 committees in various regions in France and in many other countries. The committees were set up in February 2002 with the aim of raising public awareness about ALL hostages in Colombia, including Ingrid Betancourt whose name and image has come to represent these hostages internationally.

This organisation leads the campaign for the liberation of hostages with activities in more than 20 European countries.