Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is currently "the only channel" available for communication with leftist Colombian rebels, a top foreign policy aide of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Thursday in Brasilia. ( dpa )
Presidential advisor Marco Aurelio Garcia told a committee of the lower house of the Brazilian Congress that even Chavez, however, is now "an uncertain channel" for communication with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which hold some 750 hostages including former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt.
Garcia noted that the Brazilian government's position in the Colombian conflict is one of "non-interference but also of non- indifference."
"We at (Lula's Workers' Party) always held a position very critical with FARC. President Lula shares that position," the advisor stressed.
On a personal level, Garcia said he deeply repudiates methods used by the rebels, like kidnapping.
"I fell repugnance in the face of those types of actions," he noted.
Venezuela's Chavez has advocated for FARC's international recognition as a legitimate political body in trying to mediate Colombia's four-decade-long civil conflict.