As my trip to Venezuela was winding down, I found this story about President Hugo Chavez's current relations with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. It's in Spanish, but the gist of it is Chavez said he had contacts with the rebel groups holding hostages Gov. Bill Richardson wants to free, but no longer has those ties.

The loss of contact might be in part because the group's number two leader was killed in March during an air strike by the Colombian army, angering Chavez and straining his relationship with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. Chavez has been seen as a key intermediary with the rebels, and they have released hostages to him in the past.

However, Chavez told the T.V. program Aló presidente that he hopes there are opportunities to reconnect with the rebels to talk specifically about the release of hostages. The FARC have many hostages, including three U.S. citizen military contractors and Ingrid Betancourt, a French Colombian who once ran for president of Colombia.

I have to point out something about that Aló presidente show. It's one I mentioned in one of my stories form Venezuela as a program that a reporter was gushing about and telling me I had to see, because I would still be in the country on Sunday, when it airs. (I missed it.) But it's supposed to be a time when Chavez addresses the nation, often for hours at a time.

That -- and the whole media system in Venezuela -- really struck me as odd. A good deal of the reporters work directly for the government and some even get housing subsidies from the government they cover. There are other reporters, who are known as the opposition media. I didn't see many of them at the official events I attended, however. But in the times I stood around waiting for  the press conferences I was covering, I learned a lot by chatting with the other reporters. Mostly, they were fascinated that I don't work for Richardson, that my newspaper is independent, and that I basically can write anything about what Richardson does, even if its not a positive story. They also were impressed that we don't have government rules on the media like they do, including regulations about what time of day dead bodies can be shown on T.V. Others asked about our gas prices and were shocked to learn what we pay at the pump. (One of my taxi drivers said he pays $2.00 to fill his tank.)

Needless to say, the reporters were very friendly and curious about the United States, and in particular about what we think about Chavez. One radio reporter even showed me around Caracas Sunday afternoon, after I filed my last dispatch of the trip.

Long story short, I came to appreciate the freedom of press we have here, although it's at times much maligned both by critics and journalists who feel shut out from information to which we are entitled.





A view of reporters outside the Venezuelan presidential palace waiting for a press conference with Gov. Bill Richardson.