Can Hugo Chavez help Americans?

The article that i found interesting was in the LA Times, titled "Can Hugo Chavez Help Americans?". The article dealt with how the President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela deals with the free American hostages in Colombia. Three of them are American defense

“contractors who were kidnapped in 2003 while working on an anti-drug program”
(Shifter).

There was an agreement between Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and Chavez on the issue of a hostage-prisoner exchange between governments. Chavez now has custody of the hostages and the major question is if he is going to release them to aid the other countries. If the negotiations don’t follow through, Uribe would look bad because he would be obstructing the peace. All this pressure falls on Chavez if he should do what he desires such as aiding the FARC or freeing the hostages. If the hostages are free there can be a possibility in gaining a peace agreement with the FARC. I found interesting on this topic how the Americans are relying on Hugo for the release of the American hostages. There is so much pressure put on Hugo and if he doesn’t make a right choice he would be seen as the one who faulted. He has the opportunity to make peace with FARC and if he doesn’t approve of it, more issue will arise and the hostages will never be free. Another interesting thought was that there was a also a French person held hostage. The FARC uses these hostages for bargaining tools in order to have their way of things. In my opinion that seems inhuman to do because bargaining with people’s lives is very unethical. It doesn’t give them the right to gamble with people’s lives. I believe that the Americans should not rely all their hopes on Hugo because the worst case scenario make be accomplished.

Works Cited: LA Times Sunday Edition, "Can Hugo Chavez help Americans?" by Michael Shifter