FRANCE: Venezuelan Presaident is certain he can secure freedom for hostages held in Colombia and an apology from Spanish king Juan Carlos

In a free-ranging news conference in Paris, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez pledges to help free hostages in Colombia, warns crude prices will keep rising and suggests the King of Spain offer an apology for telling him to shut up during a recent summit of heads of state. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is convinced that Franco-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt is not only alive, but could be freed by Colombian Marxist rebels who have pledged to him that they will provide proof she is alive by the end of the year. During a news conference in Paris, Chavez said he has made progress as a mediator between the Colombian government and Marulanda, leader Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a guerrilla group that has waged a four-decade war against the state. "Let's find a formula. I would say let's start with the elderly, then women, children - a group, especially for humanitarian reasons and as good faith. Uribe promised me that if you, Marulanda, free a group in a unilateral way but we can do it bilaterally, you and me, then I would go to El Caguan to talk to you Marulanda. And I, of course, have no reason to doubt the word of President Uribe, quite the contrary, I have reasons to believe that it will go that way. There would start a process for the liberation of all and furthermore for peace in Colombia," said Chavez. Crude oil will continue on the rise, he said, warning that the end of global oil supply is not far. "Oil will come to an end. What we should be doing is preparing ourselves for the post-oil era. And one of the ways to prepare is exactly that Iran is doing - developing nuclear energy. France has how many reactors for nuclear energy? A good percentage of this energy, 30% that's here, because France dedicated itself to developing nuclear energy. Don't we have the right to do it? Oh but if we do it, they accuse us of being terrorists and they want to erase us from the map," Chavez said referring to what he calls U.S. attacks against him. Chavez is also unlikely to duck a fight with Spain on a Europe trip that takes him to its borders. Chavez has asked for an apology over a spat with Spain after the Spanish King told him to shut up during a summit in Chile where the Venezuelan had repeatedly attacked former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar. "If the king wants to end this, 'Apologise Mr. It doesn't cost you anything. Be human, get off your throne and say I was wrong Chavez. I'm sorry'. I would do it, like any human being. Accept that you were wrong that you lost your head and apologise. You yelled at a head of state - something never seen. We're not citizens of the King of Spain. That happened a long time ago. We are free," he said. After the news conference, Melanie Betancourt, told journalists that she hopes diplomatic pressure will help negotiate the release of her mother, Ingrid ,which she has been seeking for years. Sarkozy has made securing the release of French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt one of his foreign policy priorities and Chavez says he can help negotiate a prisoner exchange with the rebels. "I think what is changing is the disposition of both President Chavez and President Sarkozy to ensure that the FARC and the [Colombian] government come to an agreement and that is what's most important," said Melanie Betancourt, Ingrid Betancourt's daughter said to reporters at the conference hall in Paris. The Marxist FARC wants rebels held in government prisons to be freed in exchange for its most high-profile captives, including Betancourt and three U.S. contract workers held for years in jungle camps.

ITN Source | November 21, 2007

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