Relatives of hostages held for years by Colombian rebels met with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in hopes he might be able to help negotiate the captives' release.

Chavez offered the relatives "all the help we can give" to broker a deal between the Colombian government and the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. He said he is optimistic and willing to hold talks with FARC leader Manuel Marulanda or whomever the rebels choose.

"Starting today we will begin to work to try to make contact with FARC high command ... so that we can start hearing positions. I have very, very much faith we will achieve that point of agreement," Chavez said during the televised meeting with family members including Yolanda Pulecio, the mother of former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who has been held captive since 2002.

Chavez offered Venezuela as a possible site for negotiations toward a Colombian prisoner exchange, and as a goodwill gesture said he would pardon many of the 27 Colombians serving prison terms in Venezuela for involvement in an alleged 2004 plot that authorities say included plans to kill Chavez.

"I hope this may be a trigger for the process" to begin a dialogue, Chavez said.

While the FARC rebels profess some ideological affinity for Chavez, the Venezuelan leader has long denied any links to the group and has insisted on staying out of Colombia's internal conflict. But he has offered to help in peace talks and met the relatives along with Colombian Sen. Piedad Cordoba, who was appointed by President Alvaro Uribe to facilitate a possible prisoner exchange.

The FARC — which has been trying to overthrow the government for more than four decades — holds hundreds of hostages including three U.S. defense contractors and Betancourt, a dual Colombian-French citizen who was kidnapped at a rebel roadblock while campaigning. She was last seen publicly in a video statement in 2003.

The rebels say they would free her and others in exchange for the release of imprisoned guerrillas. Chavez has suggested Venezuela could be used as neutral territory to free hostages and rebel prisoners.

Deyanira Ortiz, the wife of provincial legislator Orlando Beltran, who was kidnapped in 2001, thanked Chavez for his help as a facilitator and said, "We have a lot of faith that we're going to achieve the return of our relatives."

Some of the Colombians lamented that moves toward a prisoner exchange are at an impasse, and one woman said "a gesture is needed" by the FARC.

Chavez plans to travel to Colombia on Aug. 31 to meet with Uribe. He said he would be involved to the extent Colombia wishes.

"We're going to put our heart into it and see if we achieve a humanitarian exchange," Chavez said before the meeting. Afterward, he told reporters, "I have a lot of faith we're going to achieve it."