Venezuela helicopters fly to free Colombia hostages

The white helicopters painted with the symbol of the RedCross left a military base close to the border and flew intoneighbouring Colombia, where the rebels are holding the threemen and one woman.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, lastmonth released two politicians in a deal brokered by theleftist Chavez, who has spent months in talks with the leadersof Latin America's oldest guerrilla insurgency.

But after close initial cooperation, Chavez and Colombia'sconservative President Alvaro Uribe have bickered over theanti-U.S. leader's mediation efforts.

The hostages to be released on Wednesday are lawmakersGloria Polanco de Losada, Luis Eladio Perez, Orlando Beltranand Jorge Gechem, who is believed to be in poor health.

Winning their release would be another victory for Chavez,who angered Uribe and Washington by demanding politicalrecognition for the FARC, which the United States and theEuropean Union label a cocaine-smuggling terrorist group.

U.S. Republican representatives accuse Chavez of being softon drug and gun-running across the porous border with Colombiaand allowing FARC rebels to take refuge in his country.

The rebels and their right-wing paramilitary enemies havefor years slipped across into Venezuela for respite frombattles at home.

The release would also raise hopes for a broader deal tofree dozens more hostages, including French-Colombianpolitician Ingrid Betancourt and three Americans whose plighthas drawn attention to captives held for years by the FARC.

The guerrilla fighters hold hundreds of hostages capturedfor ransom and political leverage in their four-decade war withthe state.

The rebels, who say they are fighting for social justice,want to swap their hostages for fellow fighters imprisoned bythe Colombian government.

The recent releases have been unilateral and are describedby the fighters as a gesture of goodwill to Chavez, who hopesto broker a wider peace deal, although analysts say that isunlikely.

(Reporting by Frank Jack Daniel, editing by Kieran Murray)