Colombia on Monday rejected a proposal by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to travel to rebel-controlled jungles to broker a prisoner exchange to free three U.S. defense contractors and dozens of other hostages.

Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo, in a brief statement, said the government "does not consider appropriate" a meeting between Chavez and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, on Colombian soil.

On Sunday, Chavez said during his weekly television program "Alo Presidente" that he was "willing to go into the deepest part of the largest jungle to talk with Marulanda," referring to FARC commander Manuel Marulanda.

Chavez said he received a letter last week from Marulanda in which the octogenarian leader said he was unable to travel to Venezuela and instead invited the Venezuelan leader to come to Colombia.

Chavez said Marulanda also promised to send a high-ranking FARC envoy to meet with him in Venezuela to discuss a humanitarian exchange for imprisoned rebels.

Restrepo reiterated the government's support for talks between Chavez and the FARC in Venezuela. The idea was first discussed at an Aug. 31 summit in Bogota in which the President Alvaro Uribe authorized Chavez to play a mediating role in long-stalled talks to free the hostages.

Among about 45 prominent hostages held by the rebels are three U.S. defense contractors whose small plane crashed in the jungles while on an anti-narcotics mission in 2003 and former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, a French-Colombian citizen.