Colombia FARC free two soldiers, vow to release general by weekend - Reuters

Colombian Marxist rebels released two captives on Tuesday and vowed to free a kidnapped army general by the weekend in a move that may lead to the resumption of suspended peace talks which aim to end five decades of war.

President Juan Manuel Santos halted two-year-old negotiations in Havana after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) seized five hostages, threatening to derail efforts to end a war that has killed more than 200,000 people since 1964.

Santos, who has staked his legacy on a successful peace deal, has said talks would not restart until all the hostages, including General Ruben Dario Alzate, the highest-ranking military official ever taken by the FARC, are freed.

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Colombia peace talks in limbo over kidnapped army general - Reuters

Colombia's peace talks with Marxist FARC rebels were in crisis on Monday as troops scoured a Pacific coast region for an army general kidnapped over the weekend in a brash move by guerrillas that endangers efforts to end 50 years of war.

President Juan Manuel Santos suspended the negotiations in Havana after General Ruben Dario Alzate, who heads the Titan task force in the western department of Choco, was captured by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

The rebels also took another military official and a civilian when they were disembarking from a boat on a river near the city of Quibdo during a visit to an energy project.

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Economic crisis, political strife drive Venezuela brain-drain - Reuters

After three weeks trapped inside their home, Natalie Pereira and her family made a final decision: they must leave Venezuela.

CARLOS GARCIA RAWLINS

CARLOS GARCIA RAWLINS

"I could see clashes from my apartment window, tear gas, every day," Pereira said, recounting violent confrontations between anti-government protesters and security forces earlier this year.

Forty-three people died and hundreds were hurt in three months of confrontations in major urban centers.

"The protests confirmed it - we had to go."

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Battered Venezuelan opposition will reorganize: wife of jailed leader - Reuters

Venezuela's beleaguered opposition coalition, rocked by in-fighting and a high-profile resignation, will come back stronger after reorganization, the wife of jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez said in an interview.

CARLOS GARCIA RAWLINS

CARLOS GARCIA RAWLINS

The turmoil is a chance for new leadership to take over the coalition and finally push out President Nicolas Maduro, who succeeded firebrand leader Hugo Chavez after his death last year, said Lopez's wife Lilian Tintori.

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