ONE of the leaders of Colombian rebel movement FARC acknowledged that the group's hostages endure "harsh conditions," according to an interview with Brazilian media.
"It is obvious that the prisoners endure difficulties. Government attempts to rescue them by force only increase these difficulties. The prisoners are not on a field trip in the jungle," Raul Reyes told the weekly Epocal in an email.
The leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia holds dozens of hostages, including French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and three Americans, and wants to exchange 43 of them for 500 of their jailed guerrillas.
Reyes blamed the Colombian Government for the delay in freeing the captives, accusing it of failing to create a demilitarized zone where the handover could occur.
"We have been ready to make the exchange for years. It is possible. The Government has no other solution ... Continuing to prevent the hostage exchange lacks political realism."
Asked about the health of Ms Betancourt, who was seized while campaigning for president in 2002, Reyes said she "and her other companions deal stoically with the difficulties imposed by the jungle".
"Her day-to-day life is determined by the harsh conditions created by the conflict," he said, adding that Ms Betancourt, "like all the other prisoners, wants the exchange to take place as soon as possible ... it's a subject that she brings up daily."
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