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Chavez says he’ll oversee release of 3 held by Colombian rebels

HAVANA, Cuba (CNN) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez confirmed Saturday that he plans to witness the release of three hostages held for years by the Colombian left-wing guerrilla group FARC.

While attending a regional oil summit in Cuba, Chavez told Cubavision television that he has orchestrated a delicate operation set to take place in the next few days.

Before I even got here, I’ve already made elaborate plans on how to handle this very delicate operation, he said.

There are some armed groups in the vicinity, some associated with the government or even part of the government, who would like to block the liberation of these hostages.

On Tuesday, the Colombian rebels said three captives they have held could be freed by the end of the year, including an aide to Colombian Sen. Ingrid Betancourt and the woman’s 3-year-old son, according to a statement.

CNN obtained their statement from La Prensa, a newspaper in Managua, Nicaragua.

Betancourt was kidnapped in 2002 along with her campaign manager, Clara Rojas, when she ran for the Colombian presidency. The senator was not among the hostages mentioned by members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

The hostages believed to be in line for release are Rojas, her son, Emmanuel, and former Colombian congresswoman Consuelo Gonzalez. Emmanuel was born roughly two years after his mother was taken captive.

FARC made several demands in conjunction with the announcement about the three hostages, including demilitarizing Colombia’s municipalities of Florida and Pradera for 45 days in order to negotiate what it called a humanitarian accord.

The handover could prove problematic, however, in light of bad blood between Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and Chavez.

Uribe had asked Chavez to help secure the release of the hostages, hundreds of which are held by FARC and the National Liberation Army (ELN). But last month, Uribe effectively fired Chavez, saying he broke protocol by communicating directly with his top general.

Chavez has since called Uribe a liar and said that FARC was ready to release prisoners, but that Uribe’s interference stalled those plans.

He said Saturday the Colombian government has shown unwillingness to help our humanitarian efforts in regard to the release.

Speaking from the Cuban city of Cienfuegas, Chavez said he will press ahead in negotiating the release of hostages held by FARC.

We will keep pressing, but it all depends on the Colombian government’s good will, he said.

The move by FARC is seen as an effort to get Chavez back on board as a mediator — as the Venezuelan president is more sympathetic to the rebels than Uribe’s government — and a positive public relations move during the holidays.

Earlier this month, French President Nicolas Sarkozy appealed to FARC to release Betancourt, who also holds French citizenship. She has become a cause celebre in France.
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Chicago students receive a holiday surprise

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‘Boy Meets World’ actress faces drunken driving charge

NEWPORT BEACH, California (AP) — Former child star Danielle Fishel, a teen heartthrob on ABC’s Boy Meets World, was arrested this week on a drunken driving warrant from Los Angeles County, police said.

Fishel was arrested Thursday just before 5 a.m. after officers stopped a car she was in, said Newport Beach Sgt. James Rocker. She was released from jail shortly after her arrest.

Fishel grew up in Yorba Linda and spent more than seven years playing Topanga, the love interest of Boy Meets World star Ben Savage.

In 2006, Fishel became the spokeswoman for NutriSystem after she announced on The Tyra Banks Show that she was so thrilled about losing 20 pounds with the diet program that she wanted to be the company’s spokeswoman.

In February, Fishel became a special correspondent for The Tyra Banks Show. E-mail to a friend

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Lyon denied by late Nancy leveler

NANCY, France — Second-placed Nancy scored a late equalizer to prevent French champions Lyon extending their league lead ahead of the winter break.

Alain Perrin’s team, seeking a seventh successive title, remain four points clear of Nancy following the 1-1 draw on Saturday.

The home team had the better of the match until substitute Milan Baros put Lyon ahead in the 80th minute, with the Czech Republic striker slotting the ball past advancing keeper Gennaro Bracigliano after being sent clear on the counter-attack.

However, Chris Malonga leveled the match seven minutes later after the visitors failed to clear a corner, with his volley deflecting past Lyon goalkeeper Remy Vercoutre off defender Francois Clerc.

For Nancy it was a fourth consecutive draw, while Lyon have not won in the past three matches.

In Saturday’s later games, third-placed Bordeaux have the chance to move within two points of Nancy with victory away to second-bottom Sochaux, while fourth-placed Le Mans can do the same by winning at Marseille.

Auxerre host Monaco, bottom club Metz travel to Lorient, Nice are at home to fifth-placed Valenciennes and sixth-placed Caen are at Strasbourg.

Meanwhile, Sunday’s northern derby between Lens and Lille has been postponed due to a frozen pitch.
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Illegal immigrants packing up and leaving Arizona

PHOENIX, Arizona (AP) — Illegal immigrants in Arizona, frustrated with a flagging economy and tough new legislation cracking down on their employers, are returning to their home countries or trying their luck in other states.

For months, immigrants have taken a wait-and-see attitude toward the state’s new employer-sanctions law, which takes effect January 1. The voter-approved legislation is an attempt to lessen the economic incentive for illegal immigrants in Arizona, the busiest crossing point along the U.S.-Mexico border.

And by all appearances, it’s starting to work.

People are calling me telling me about their friend, their cousin, their neighbors — they’re moving back to Mexico, said Magdalena Schwartz, an immigrant-rights activist and pastor at a Mesa church. They don’t want to live in fear, in terror.

Martin Herrera, a 40-year-old illegal immigrant and masonry worker who lives in Camp Verde, 70 miles north of Phoenix, said he is planning to return to Mexico as soon as he ties up loose ends after living here for four years.

I don’t want to live here because of the new law and the oppressive environment, he said. I’ll be better in my country.

He called the employer-sanctions law absurd.

Everybody here, legally or illegally, we are part of a motor that makes this country run, Herrera said. Once we leave, the motor is going to start to slow down.

There’s no way to know how many illegal immigrants are leaving Arizona, especially now with many returning home for normal holiday visits. But economists, immigration lawyers and people who work in the immigrant community agree it’s happening.

State Rep. Russell Pearce of Mesa, the author of the employer sanctions law, said his intent was to drive illegal immigrants out of Arizona.

I’m hoping they will self-deport, Pearce said. They broke the law. They’re criminals.

Under the employer sanctions law, businesses found to have knowingly hired illegal workers will be subject to sanctions from probation to a 10-day suspension of their business licenses. A second violation would bring permanent revocation of the license.

Nancy-Jo Merritt, an immigration lawyer who primarily represents employers, said her clients already have started to fire workers who can’t prove they are in the country legally.

Workers are being fired, of course, she said. Nobody wants to find out later on that they’ve got somebody working for them who’s not here legally.

When immigrants don’t have jobs, they don’t stick around, said Dawn McLaren, a research economist at Arizona State University who specializes in illegal immigration.

She said the flagging economy, particularly in the construction industry, also is contributing to an immigrant exodus.

As the jobs dwindle and the environment becomes more unpleasant in more ways than one, you then decide what to do, and perhaps leaving looks like a good idea, she said. And certainly that creates a problem, because as people leave, they take the jobs they created with them.

Pearce disagreed that the Arizona economy will suffer after illegal immigrants leave, saying there will be less crime, lower taxes, less congestion, smaller classroom sizes and shorter lines in emergency rooms.

We have a free market. It’ll adjust, he said. Americans will be much better off.

He said he’s not surprised illegal immigrants are leaving the state and predicts that more will go once the employer-sanctions law takes effect next month.

It’s attrition by enforcement, he said. As you make this an unfriendly state for lawbreakers, I’m hoping they will pick up and leave.
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