HUGO CHAVEZ THWARTED IN ATTEMPT TO FREE COLOMBIAN HOSTAGES

Hugo Chavez of Venezuela is wrong to seek a change in the Constitution to allow him to be president for life. But he has done a lot of things well, such as provide social security retirement benefits for maids, laborers and the underclasses. Another laudable Chavez project is to seek a prisoner exchange with the FARC, the Colombian insurgency group fighting against the establishment in neighboring Colombia.

There have been estimates of over 1,500 hostages being held by factions of the FARC throughout Colombia. Some have been held for as long as 10 years. Colombia's government takes the same approach as Bush and Cheney. Try to kill off as many rebels as possible. Shoot them, bomb them, kill them. This approach solves nothing.

Hugo Chavez comes along with a new approach. Sit down with them, talk with them, come to some agreement.

But yesterday, Colombian president AlvaroUribe, a close ally of the United States and Bush/Cheney, fired Chavez just when he was some progress in securing the release the hostages. Uribe claims Chavez broke his promise not to deal with the Colombian military directly in pursuing a settlement with the FARC. Just why this would be a deal breaker remains to be seen. One could speculate that Uribe does not want to see any Chavez-brokered settlement, or that he does not want the Colombian military to make a deal without Uribe's input for fear that he might lose control, or that the Bush/Cheney cabal prevailed upon him to prevent Chavez from claiming a humanitarian victory in freeing the hostages.

Whatever the reason, Uribe has forced Chavez out of the equation. So the hostages and their families are back to the beginning. Who knows, without Chavez, FARC may hold them another 10 years.