Bill Richardson, a democratic superdelegate, had a face-to-face meeting with anti-American thug Hugo Chavez on Saturday. AP:Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is "ready to help re-engage in negotiations" for the release of three American hostages held captive by rebels in Colombia, a visiting U.S. governor said late Saturday.What's up with Democrats rushing to meet with scoundrels and dictators? (Photo courtesy AFP.)
Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that he plans to put forward a proposal for the release of the three U.S. defense contractors in the coming weeks and that Chavez is willing to work with him as a "primary mediator."
The governor met with Chavez at the presidential palace on Saturday night to discuss the issue. Chavez did not release any statements following the meeting.
Earlier Saturday, the president remarked that he did not know "if I'm going to be able to continue helping."
"I'm going to listen to him, to see how we could," Chavez said.
Richardson, who has experience in helping to get U.S. captives freed in other nations, told the AP he had a "very productive" meeting with Chavez, but he did not divulge any specifics on how they plan to move forward.
Prior to the meeting, the governor told reporters that he would discuss ways to advance a proposed swap of hostages for imprisoned guerrillas. He stressed that he was visiting Venezuela not as an official envoy but at the request of the hostages' families.
Richardson, who speaks Spanish, expressed satisfaction that both the Venezuelan president and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, with whom he met last month, have agreed to cooperate.
"I achieved the two things I came to do," he said. "First, Chavez has agreed to work with me as a primary mediator. But he won't be the only one, obviously. And second, he said he was ready to help re-engage in negotiations."
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