The Brazilian government on Tuesday expressed its regret over the delay of the release of three hostages by the Colombia's Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) rebel group.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement it sympathizes with the families of the hostages, Consuelo Gonzalez, Clara Rojas and her four-year-old son Emmanuel, whose release was stalled on Monday.
The FARC on Monday announced the delay of the handover of the three hostages, claiming that the Colombian government's military activity had made it impossible to safely release the captives.
A new date for the release was not announced.
An international mission was poised to collect the three by helicopters somewhere in the Colombian jungle and transfer them to Venezuela.
The Brazilian government reiterated its support to the efforts by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to rescue the hostages and the operation by international delegates.
Involved in the mission were delegates from France, Switzerland, Cuba, Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia and Argentina, including former Argentine President Nestor Kirchner, as well as representatives from the International Red Cross.
Gonzalez, a former lawmaker, was kidnapped in 2001 and Rojas was abducted during her 2002 vice presidential campaign.
Earlier this month, the FARC, Colombia's largest rebel group, promised to hand over the three hostages to President Chavez. Last Friday, the Venezuelan president sent two helicopters deep into Colombia to collect them.
Source: Xinhua
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