BBC Jan 10
Ms Gonzalez (left) and Ms Rojas were kidnapped in 2001 and 2002
Two women hostages have been freed by Colombian rebels, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has said.
Mr Chavez, who was involved in efforts to mediate their release, made the announcement after speaking to them by telephone from Caracas.

Clara Rojas and Consuelo Gonzalez had been held for several years.

A similar attempt to rescue them was called off last month amid recriminations between the rebels and the Colombian government.

The women were picked up by two Venezuelan helicopters in an operation overseen by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which also confirmed their release.

Mr Chavez told reporters the women were emotional and in good health.

"They are free. I told them both: 'Welcome to life'," he said.

They are expected to arrive in Venezuela by about 1900GMT.

Ms Gonzalez, 57, was kidnapped in 2001. Ms Rojas, 44, an aide to former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, was seized in 2002, while she and Ms Betancourt were out campaigning. Ms Betancourt, a French-Colombian citizen, is still in captivity.



Ms Rojas elderly mother, Clara Gonzalez de Rojas, said their release was a "miracle".

"This is the biggest miracle my God could have ever given me," she told Colombian Caracol TV from Caracas, where she has been since December.

"I'll be truly happy when I go with my daughter to retrieve my little grandson."

Her grandson is Ms Rojas's three-year-old son, Emmanuel, who is believed to have been fathered by one of the rebel captors.

She said the child welfare authorities had assured her that Emmanuel is "a very loving baby, full of smiles" and in good health.

Mediator role

The hostages' release was due to have come earlier. In December, the Farc promised to release the women and Emmanuel.

But the rebels accused the Colombian government of sabotaging the hostage release by continuing military operations in the area.


ICRC helicopters are taking the women to Venezuela

The government said the Farc backed out of the deal because they no longer held the young boy, who was found to be living in a foster home in Bogota.

Thursday's operation came about after Mr Chavez announced that he had received the co-ordinates for a handover.

The Colombian government responded quickly, promising to "provide all the necessary guarantees" to enable the hostages to return home as soon as possible.

Military operations in three areas in the south-eastern state of Guaviare were suspended to allow the handover to take place. Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos said his troops watched as the helicopters landed just 2km from their base.

The BBC's Jeremy McDermott in Colombia says the hostages' release is a coup for Mr Chavez , who has shown he has influence with the intractable Colombian rebels.

He says the Venezuelan leader can now position himself as the mediator with the best chance of securing the release of the other 43 hostages the guerrillas want to exchange for hundreds of rebels in prison.

Whilst the Colombian government officially welcomes the release of the two hostages, President Alvaro Uribe will have to reassess his position as pressure mounts on him to make concessions to the Farc, our correspondent says.