Interview with Melanie Delloye, daughter of Ingrid Betancourt. With members of her family Melanie has been actively campaigning for 44 months for freedom for her mother and for all hostages held by FARC.

The event on Monday evening last in the Rond Point Theatre in Paris, does this herald a new stage in the support campaign for the hostages?

Mélanie Delloye. This evening was very significant. The support given by the singer Renaud and all those artists who attended, people who expressed their support, is vital for us. The only possibility of change, a solution for all the hostages and my mother will be brought about through support form the international community. Real pressure on the Colombian government and FARC means that they understand that they have no choice; they must find a solution to bring about humanitarian agreement. All the more so as Colombia enters a very special phase with the approach of the presidential elections. The President of Colombia, {Alvaro Uribe - NDLR] has done everything to change the constitution in order to be re-elected. And he has a good chance of being re-elected. The current President hasn't any political desire to find a solution to the problem of the hostages.

Several attempts to free your mother have been undertaken by the French government. Why were they unsuccessful?

Melanie Delloye. This is due to the fact that the Colombian President has opposed every step taken to bring about an eventual humanitarian agreement or a release of hostages. France, Switzerland, the Church in Colombia, the United Nations have tried to support the families of the hostages to help them find a solution, by going to speak with FARC, by trying to make the Colombian Government understand that they could be mediators… With very advance the government and President Alvaro Uribe have acted in such a way that all attempts were undermined. The government is not only indifferent to the situation of the hostages, it does all it can to impede an eventual humanitarian agreement.

What are the reasons for this?

Melanie Delloye. President Uribe believes that war is the solution to end conflict in Colombia. He is mistaken. Besides, the final results of his mandate are conclusive; the situation is more serious than four years ago when he was elected. There has been an increase in deaths, violence and bloodshed. If, in the opinion of the Colombian President, that is the solution, I think that we have a very different view of the path that leads to peace. The Colombian President refuses to recognise that there is a war in Colombia. He talks about terrorist threats. The conflict in which the government is opposed to FARC and other rebel groups has been going on for more than forty years.

There have been more than 200,000 dead. Three million people have been displaced. We must open the eyes of the government so that it acknowledges the real situation: that of war.

You mention the forthcoming presidential election campaign. Do you think that this period will be a fruitful one for negotiations?

Melanie Delloye. Election time is a very important time because this a time when there is public debate. Everything must be done to ensure that the hostage situation be a priority issue in this campaign. This is not the case at the moment. Candidates hardly even speak about this issue. Imagine a country where there are three thousand hostages who rot in the jungle and for whom nothing is done. It is not even a news item. It is as if the best way to combat kidnapping is to ignore it. That is why international pressure is important because for the government and the Colombian President, the strategy of not talking about is a very convenient one. They can calmly ignore the situation and not worry about such pressures. One must take into account that 80% of hostages in the world are in Colombia. We have a great responsibility to ensure that this issue be made a worldwide issue.

One possible outcome would be that the Colombian President proceeds to bring about humanitarian exchanges, as FARC have also demanded?

Melanie Delloye. Of course. Colombia signed the Geneva Convention that states that where there is internal conflict, war, any humanitarian agreements with a view to an exchange of prisoners must be made. To wriggle out of this obligation President Uribe says that there is no war in Colombia. So no humanitarian exchanges are possible. We must remind Colombia and its President they have a duty to fulfil in so far as they are signatories of this convention. The President has a duty towards all hostages in Colombia.

Interview by Cathy Ceibe