Hugo Chavez Asks Farc To Free Ingrid Betancourt. Pretty Please?

Humanitarian and tireless human rights activist, Hugo Chavez, has appealed to Farc leaders to free their remaining female hostage, former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who was kidnapped in 2002:

Speaking in Caracas, alongside the mother of captive Ingrid Betancourt, he addressed his appeal directly to Farc leader Manuel Marulanda.

There was, he said, no sense in still keeping her in the Colombian jungle.

It just doesn’t make sense to abduct a woman and hold her against her will in the wilderness for 6 years. Chavez went on and blamed failed return efforts on Colombia, because, when it comes to bringing down terrorlutionaries, those Colombiatches just can’t seem to play fair:

Venezuela and Ecuador, he said, had been seeking her release through Ecuadorean territory.

But that attempt had been disrupted by the Colombian operation to kill senior Farc commander Raul Reyes in a raid inside Ecuador, Mr Chavez said.

The raid, carried out without Ecuador’s permission, sparked a furious row between Mr Chavez and Ecadorean President Rafael Correa on one side, and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe on the other.

Colombia has accused Mr Chavez of having long-standing links with Farc and funding them with hundreds of millions of dollars.

Nah, come on. Hugo Chavez is totally not in bed with Farc. They just enjoy the occasional sleepover, where they make s’mores and deny hostages medical care. That’s all.

Chavez issues plea for Betancourt [BBC]
Earlier: Documents Show Hugo Chavez May Have Funded Farc Activities