Lula aide says Chavez is 'the only channel' to Colombian rebels

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. 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.