Ceremonies marking one-time presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt's third year in the hands of Marxist rebels angered families of less-known Colombian hostages.

Ceremonies were to mark the anniversary Wednesday, as politicians from Colombia to Europe urge a deal between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia to swap hostages for jailed guerrillas.

Optimism has been scarce for Betancourt, the former Green Oxygen party presidential candidate and a French national.

Betancourt's mother, Yolanda Pulecio, told AFP: "I am just clinging to a miracle from God."

Her daughter, 43, heads a list of 63 victims of kidnapping -- 59 Colombians, three US nationals and a German -- who would be included in such a swap. But talks do not appear any closer to fruition, although President Alvaro Uribe and the rebels say they are willing to negotiate.

"I know that the political conditions are not good now," Pulecio said.

Over the past two and one-half years of his government, Uribe and the rebels have floated some offers, but each side sees the other's positions as too extreme.

Even these tentative steps were derailed by the extradition December 31 of rebel leader Simon Trinidad to the United States. Uribe had said Trinidad would remain in Colombia if the 63 hostages were handed over before that date.

Uribe is up for re-election in May 2006 and his get-tough policies are popular in Colombia.

Betancourt's abduction fueled international interest, and no shortage of domestic controversy.

In Europe, and particularly France, Betancourt has been declared an honorary citizen of 1,112 cities.

In Colombia, however, there is great resentment among the relatives of thousands of Colombian hostages, many captive for years, whose cases get no attention and whose loved ones are feared no closer to home.

"It is deplorable and an aberration that the world, and above all France, waves a flag demanding Ingrid's release, and not those of the more than 5,000 people who are being held hostage in Colombia," said Gustavo Munoz, who leads the New Hope Foundation, which represents kidnap victims, about half of which in Colombia are held by the rebels.

For Pulecio, "The solidarity with France helps keep me going.

"The difference, compared to Uribe's government, is like heaven compared to earth," she said, noting that French President Jacques Chirac in December voiced concern for her daughter's fate.

Sergio Coronado, an envoy for French Greens and a European Parliament group, said "The agreement (on a swap) is at a logjam because it is not a priority for Uribe. He makes offers knowing (the rebel group) is going to reject them, and the rebels' stand is unforgivable because kidnapping must not be used as a political weapon."

Leftist Senator Antonio Navarro, himself a former rebel, said international pressure is important.

"The talks have become a kind of thermometer of the sides' willingness to talk," he said.

"At the moment, the military and political temperature mean the talks are frozen."