Talks of prisoner-for-hostage swaps have been ongoing, yet fruitless, for some time. In this case, however, Uribe seems to have made a step forward. He was resolute about any released FARC (Group Profile) prisoners having to either leave Colombia or entering a government-sponsored re-education program. With that, he promised to release 15 prisoners charged with minor offenses, and the FARC was then to release 15 hostages. The group had been adamantly against this government contention. However, on November 1, the FARC released four hostages?including Anibal Rodriguez, Natalia Rodriguez, and Jaime Brinez (Terrorist Incident) and Antonio Martinez, who was taken in 2002–who had been held for more than three years as a ?humanitarian gesture.? This move by the FARC was not explicitly linked to the Uribe announcement, as the FARC was to follow the government?s release, but their release is tied in all likelihood.

In August, Uribe had proposed a 50-50 swap under the same circumstances that the FARC rejected, wanting high-ranking commanders released and a large demobilized zone in southern Colombia. Talks have been stalled since former President Andres Pastrana?s administration, when the leftist rebels occupied a safe haven in southern Colombia and held talks for three years, until all was rescinded in 2002 after a FARC hijacking of an airliner.

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