Venezuelan choppers to pick up captives

Two Venezuelan helicopters departed for Colombia Wednesday morning on a mission to pick up four hostages held by rebels for more than six years, the international Red Cross said. The Venezuelan helicopters took off from the Venezuelan border town of Santo Domingo, said Yves Heller, spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Bogota. The two helicopters bore Red Cross insignia and were headed for an airport in the southern Colombian town of San Jose de Guaviare, he said. From there, the helicopters are to take off again for an unidentified spot in the Colombian jungles for the hostage handover.