* The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) stated that the government of President Hugo Chávez established an "unfortunate precedent" by allowing for the capture in Caracas of Rodrigo Granda Escobar, known as the guerrilla "chancellor", news agency AP said.
 
* "Following the events in Caracas in connection with the kidnapping of Rodrigo, we do request from the Bolivarian government of Venezuela to adopt a stance with regard to other Bolivarian organizations that visit Venezuela," said the guerrilla in a communiqué published in its web page.
 
* Granda was captured last December 14 in Cúcuta, a few hours after crossing the border from Venezuela, as reported by General José Daniel Castro, the commander of the Colombian National Police, and General Carlos Alberto Ospina, the Colombian Army commander.
 
* According to the communiqué, Granda was in Caracas on December 8-9, following an "invitation of the Bolivarian organizations in Venezuela, and supported by the Venezuelan government authorities."
 
* The Venezuelan identity card of Granda is a false document, the Venezuelan Interior Vice Minister Alcides Rondón Thursday told a Colombian radio station.
 
* "We have information that Mr. Granda's attorney has claimed that this man has a double nationality. We have determined that such identity card belongs to a Venezuelan citizen, and therefore the identity card Mr. Granda bears is false," Rondón told radio station Caracol. Rondón added that Granda was in Venezuela illegally.
 
* Rondón insisted that investigations on Granda's capture are underway, and stressed that the Venezuelan government is trying to clarify if the rebel leader was captured in Venezuela. Also authorities are to determine whether Venezuelan officers took part in Granda's detention.
 
* The Venezuelan official said Granda was not invited to attend any event sponsored by President Chávez administration.
 
* Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Thursday rejected claims by the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FACR) that its "chancellor," Rodrigo Granda, was "kidnapped" in Venezuela and his rights were violated.
 
* "The FARC on January 1 killed 17 farmers. They constantly kidnap people, launch terror attacks everyday, violate human rights, and traffic drugs, and when any of them is captured, they say they have been kidnapped and their rights have been violated."
 
* In an official statement, Venezuelan Interior Minister Jesse Chacón warned that if Colombian officers were found to have participated in the incident, it "would be a very grave issue, as the Venezuelan sovereignty was violated." In this case, "the relevant steps will be taken."
 
* Granda is a Venezuelan citizen, and President Chávez administration should undertake his defense, said Miguel González, Granda's attorney.
 
* "Mr. Granda Escobar is a born Colombian citizen and he is also a Venezuelan citizen, with identity card 22.118.142. It is true and apparent that he is a Venezuelan citizen," González added.
 
"Granda Escobar was kidnapped in downtown Caracas on December 13 at 4:00 p.m. by heavily armed men who said they were members of the Venezuelan Dijin (sic), but Granda Escobar told me that they were Colombian citizens because of their accent," the attorney told Radio Caracol.
 
* Since Granda Escobar is a Venezuelan citizen, González said, he "enjoys the protection of the Venezuelan Constitution and laws, and according to the law the Venezuelan government has to protect this person."
 
* "A kidnapping, a crime against humankind under the regulations of the International Criminal Court, was perpetrated in Venezuelan territory. As a result of this crime, whose perpetrators and masterminds are yet to be found, (Mr. Granda Escobar) was taken to Cúcuta, in the Colombia-Venezuela border, for capture," González stated.
 
* Pro-government parliamentarian Marelys Pérez Marcano Thursday denied she said Granda lived in Caracas for several years, as local newspaper Últimas Noticias reported on Thursday.
 
* Even though the newspaper quoted Pérez Marcano as saying that "the Chancellor" lived in Venezuela, she told local Unión Radio station the information is not correct.
 
 "I do not have any relation with him (Granda) to say such a thing. What I actually told the reporter is that he (Granda) attended the Bolivarian Congress of the Peoples held in our country," she added.
 
* She stressed that Granda was not a guest to the event, but he showed up and wanted to make an intervention on the Colombian situation. She talked to the rebel leader, who handed over leaflets to the public and left.
 
* Congress ex president Cristóbal Fernández Daló said the Venezuelan government granted the Venezuelan citizenship to Granda.
 
* Fernández Daló produced the extraordinary issue No. 5,722, published on July, Friday 9th, 2004. The official document includes a list of nationalized foreign citizens, and the name of Rodrigo Granda Escobar appears in page 18.
Also, he handed over copies of the certificate of regularization and/or application for nationalization, including Granda Escobar.

* "That day, this individual became a Venezuelan citizen," Fernández Daló said. "Obviously, somebody is lying," he added. In his view, if Granda did not live in Venezuela at least for 5 years, as established in the Venezuelan Constitution, the conferral of his citizenship rights "was a government act against the Constitution on behalf of an ally or former ally."
 
 * A group of pro-government congressmen is to travel to Colombia to find out the confused capture of Granda in view of ambiguous versions in Bogotá and Caracas, congresswoman Iris Varela said.

* As a result of different versions concerning the detention of the rebel head, an investigation committee was created "because they have made unconvincing statements," said Varela during an interview with Colombian radio station "La FM."

* For its part, last December 23th, 2004, the Attorney General's Office started an investigation into the alleged abduction of Granda. Attorneys Alejandro Castillo Soto and Edilia Coromoto Almarza were entrusted with the task, including an enquiry into any involvement by Venezuelan police officers.

* According to a press release issued by the Attorney General's Office, the investigation followed the publications in Colombian newspapers Vea and El Tiempo de Bogotá, about the alleged kidnapping of Granda in the surroundings of Hilton Hotel by officials from the Colombian DAS and the Venezuelan General Directorate for Intelligence, Security and Prevention (Disip.)