Colombian government hopes Chávez's appeal to come true

Colombian Minister of Defense Juan Manuel Santos said on Monday that he would like the appeal made by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez to the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) for unconditional release of hostages to be implemented.

"I wish it would translate into facts. Our fundamental and strategic objective is that our neighbors help fight terrorism," Santos told Bogotá's radio Caracol.

According to the official, following Chávez's remarks, "we can feel better and resume relations in good terms and to the benefit of the two peoples."

"If that is true and translates into facts, it is good news," he added.

Last Sunday, surprisingly in his TV and radio show "Aló, Presidente," Chávez asked the new FARC commander Alfonso Cano to free unconditionally all the hostages in their possession and concluded that "guerrillas warfare has gone down in history" in Latin America.

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IISS: The FARC financed Chávez before 1999

10:07 AM. DIPLOMACY. Admired by the Colombian guerrilla after his coup attempt in 1992, the then lieutenant colonel Hugo Chávez Frías received financial support by the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) for his projects after his capture that year. This mostly explains the relationship and "debt" between the parties, as revealed by a paper of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) of the United Kingdom.