Brazilian government condemns kidnapping of Colombian presidential candidate

25/02/2002 - 18h27

Brasilia, 26 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The Ministry of Foreign Relations of Brazil released a statement to the press on Monday emphatically condemning all the acts of violence committed by the guerrilla group - Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The statement was issued because of the kidnapping of the Colombian senator and presidential candidate, Ingrid Betancourt. The Itamaraty chancellery reasserted the Brazilian government's support for Colombian President Andrés Pastrana, who, according to the communiqué, exercised "his Constitutional authority to suspend the negotiation process with the FARC." (MW)