Venezuelan gunmen take hostages
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An armed gang flees with hostages after freeing 30 people held for more than a day at a bank in Venezuela.
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Colombia agreed Wednesday to allow Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to send his planes and helicopters into its territory to pick up three hostages who have been held for years by leftist rebels
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Gunmen have invaded an oilfield control  station operated by Royal Dutch Shell in Nigeria's Bayelsa  state and are holding several soldiers and oil workers hostage,  security and industry sources said on Friday.
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Gunmen have kidnapped several foreigners in the main oil-producing region of southern Nigeria, military and industry sources said Friday.
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Two helicopters left Venezuela on Friday in the first leg of an operation that could free three hostages from the jungles of Colombia.
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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Wednesday Colombian rebels are ready to free two hostages, telling him the location they can be picked up from.
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ALTAGRACIA DE ORITUCO, Venezuela  - Venezuelan police swooped down on an ambulance used by robbers escaping a bank siege on Tuesday, arresting all four men and freeing a group of captives to end a two-day hostage standoff.
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SAN JOSE DEL GUAVIARE, Colombia, Jan 10 - Marxist rebels freed two women hostages from Colombia's jungle on Thursday in a deal brokered by Venezuela's leftist president, Hugo Chavez, that could mark a breakthrough in peace efforts.
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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said two women held hostage by Colombian rebels for more than six years were freed Thursday, saying he spoke with the former captives by phone and they were being flown out of the jungle.
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ALTAGRACIA DE ORITUCO, Venezuela  - Venezuelan police swooped on an ambulance used by robbers escaping a bank siege on Tuesday, arresting four men and freeing a group of hostages held in the getaway vehicle.
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Bogota - At least 10 persons were kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) late on Friday near San Rafael, in Colombia&#39;s northwest, officials said on Saturday.
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Colombian rebel group Farc is to free at least three hostages to Venezuelan head Hugo Chavez, reports say.
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BOGOTA, Colombia, Dec. 18 -- Colombian guerrillas said Tuesday that they would hand over three hostages to Venezuelan President Hugo ChÃÂ¿vez, including an aide to French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt.
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ALTAGRACIA DE ORITUCO, Venezuela  - Venezuelan bank robbers carrying pistols and a hand-grenade sped away on Tuesday from a police siege in an ambulance with a handful of hostages after a deal that freed tens of other captives in a two-day standoff.
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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez sent two helicopters into Colombia on Friday on a delicate mission to pluck three hostages from the rebel-held jungle.
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Venezuelan troops have seized an anti-government television channel's broadcast equipment, the station said on Sunday, ahead of a controversial midnight EDT/0400 GMT takeover by President Hugo Chavez that will take the broadcaster off the air.
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CARACAS, Venezuela  - A top Colombian rebel  captured last month was apparently abducted from Venezuela,  possibly by Colombian security officials in a serious violation  of Venezuelan sovereignty, Venezuelan Interior Minister Jesse  Chacon said on Wednesday.