CARACAS (Reuters) - Two helicopters flew from a Venezuelan military base to Colombia on Wednesday to pick up four lawmakers held hostage for years in the jungle by Marxist guerrillas, in a diplomatic victory for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
The red and white helicopters painted with the symbol ofthe Red Cross took off from a base close to the border andheaded into Colombia, where the guerrillas are holding thethree men and one woman.
Last month the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, orFARC, released two politicians in a deal brokered by leftistChavez, who has spent months in talks with the rebels, LatinAmericas oldest left-wing insurgency.
But after close initial cooperation, Chavez and Colombia'sconservative President Alvaro Uribe have bickered over theVenezuelan's mediation.
The release of the four lawmakers, who are all Colombians,would fuel hopes for a deal to free high-profile hostagesFrench-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and threeAmericans whose plight has drawn attention to captives held foryears by the FARC.
The guerrilla fighters hold more than 40 politicians andsoldiers among hundreds of hostages captured for ransom andpolitical leverage.
(Reporting by Frank Jack Daniel, editing by Vicki Allen)
