¡Gracias, presidente Chávez! Clara Rojas y Consuelo González
¡Gracias, presidente Chávez!
Con emocionadas palabras de agradecimiento al presidente de Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, se expresaron Clara Rojas y Consuelo González, instantes después de ser liberadas por la guerrilla de las FARC este miércoles por la tarde, en algún punto del departamento suroriental colombiano del Guaviare. TeleSUR transmitió en exclusiva estas declaraciones.
- Chávez: Clara y Consuelo ya son libres
- Clara y Consuelo llegaron a Venezuela tras ser entregadas por las FARC
check out some of the AP story below
“President, a thousand thanks for your humanitarian gesture,” Gonzalez told Chavez on a satellite phone.
“We are being reborn,” a beaming Rojas told Chavez.
Two women embraced teary-eyed relatives who met them on the tarmac at Simon Bolivar International Airport outside the Veneuzuelan capital.Chavez engineered the most important hostage release in the Colombian conflict since 2001, when the FARC freed some 300 soldiers and police officers. Chavez said he hopes the mission opens the way for the release of more hostages.
“Venezuela will continue opening the way for peace in Colombia. We are ready, and in contact with the FARC, and we hope the Colombian government understands. I’m sure they will understand,” Chavez said. “The world wants peace for Colombia.”
But relatives of the hostages urged Chavez to continue, and the FARC, which deeply distrusts Uribe, rewarded his efforts by offering to release the two women and Rojas’s 3-year-old son, Emmanuel — who was fathered in captivity by one of her guerrilla captors.
Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said his troops held their fire as they saw the Venezuelan helicopters land just over a mile from where they were stationed, adding that troops would wait until sundown before resuming operations.
Rojas elderly mother, Clara Gonzalez de Rojas, was overcome with emotion as she spoke to Caracol TV from Caracas, where she waited for three weeks to be reunited with her daughter.
“This is the biggest miracle God could have ever given me,” Rojas said, holding back tears. “I’ll be truly happy when I go with my daughter to retrieve my little grandson.”
The Bush administration, which has had tense relations with the leftist Chavez, welcomed the hostages’ release and reiterated its call for the FARC to release all of its captives.
“We’re pleased that the Colombian government has authorized the Venezuelan government to send aircraft to Colombia marked with International Red Cross logos and carrying an international commission to recover the hostages,” said State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos. “We call on the FARC to release all hostages that it holds and we continue to support President Uribe’s efforts to that end.” [these dogs will never give Chavez credit. we don't ever expect that. we've seen how well their methods have worked!!]
Gallegos had no comment about Chavez’s involvement in the release.
Yolanda Pulecio, Betancourt’s mother, said she would fly to Caracas to see Rojas, and called the liberation proof that Chavez’ methods work.
“It’s necessary for the guerrillas to show the international community they’re really interested in the fate of the hostages,” she said.
