Cuba's former President Fidel Castro has called on Colombia's Farc guerrilla group to release all of its remaining hostages.
"I've energetically and frankly criticised the objectively cruel methods of kidnapping and holding prisoners in jungle conditions," the communist leader wrote in his latest essay which was published yesterday by Cuban state media.
"But I'm not suggesting to anyone that they put down their weapons."
Mr Castro's comments follow the Colombian military's rescue of former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, three US military contractors and 11 other hostages who had been held for years by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc.
The operation was a setback for the guerrillas and their 44-year-old movement. Mr Castro said that those who have
stopped fighting over the past 50 years "didn't survive to see peace.''
Mr Castro (81), formally ceded control of Cuba to his brother Raul Castro in February after ruling for almost five decades.
While the former president hasn't been seen in public since 2006 when he underwent intestinal surgery, he continues to publish periodic commentaries on local and world affairs.