[Marxism] French-Colombian politician is alive: rebel leader

[Walter Lippmann <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

There have been exploratory talks between the Colombian government and
the ELN guerrillas of Colombia periodically held in Havana. Background:
http://www.progresoweekly.com/index.php?progreso=ramy&otherweek=1135231200
==================================================================================

French-Colombian politician is alive: rebel leader
AFP
Sat Jun 16, 10:08 PM ET

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070617/wl_afp/colombiacubafran
    cehostage_070617020826

    http://tinyurl.com/2repqk

A jailed rebel leader freed at the request of French President
Nicolas Sarkozy said kidnapped French-Colombian politician Ingrid
Betancourt was alive and well, and that he would soon travel to Cuba.

Rodrigo Granda, the so-called foreign minister of Colombia's largest
rebel group, told AFP that Betancourt was still in rebel hands.

"Ingrid is not dead," he said Saturday. "She is well in body and
mind, but it is impossible to send further proof that she is alive
because of military operations in the area" where she is held.

Betancourt was a senator running for Colombia's presidency when the
group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), kidnapped
her and a campaign aide on February 23, 2002.

Members of her family, many of whom live in France, prevailed on
Sarkozy to persuade Colombian President Alvaro Uribe not to rescue
her by force, for fear she would be killed.

At Sarkozy's request, Uribe released Granda from a 21-year prison
sentence on June 4, when the rebel leader moved into the residences
of Bogota's archbishop.

Granda is the second person to have reported seeing Betancourt, 45,
in recent months, after a police officer, one of 56 rebel hostages,
managed to escape and said she was alive.

After much speculation that Granda had been released to negotiate a
swap of rebel hostages for some of 500 imprisoned rebels, he said
that his FARC superiors had not authorized him to do so.

However, he reiterated FARC demands that Uribe clear two
municipalities of all military presence, creating an enclave where
rebel and government negotiators can safely agree a swap of prisoners
for hostages.

And in a separate interview with AFP Granda said he would soon make a
brief trip to Cuba, without indicating what he planned to do there.
Since December 2005, Cuba has hosted exploratory contacts between
FARC and Bogota.

"I'll leave (Colombia) and return later. I'm going to Havana,
although I still don't have an exact date or time" for the flight,
said Granda, adding that the FARC leadership had authorized his trip.

Copyright  2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.


================================
WALTER LIPPMANN
Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
writer - photographer - activist
http://www.walterlippmann.com
================================

________________________________________________
YOU MUST clip all extraneous text before replying to a message.
Send list submissions to: Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism