Four hostages held for more than six years by leftwing Colombian guerrillas have been released as part of a deal brokered by Hugo Chávez, Venezuela’s president.

Gloria Polanco, Luis Eladio Perez, Orlando Beltrán, and Jorge Eduardo Géchem, former Colombian lawmakers, were picked up from their jungle prison in the country’s south on Wednesday by two Venezuelan helicopters marked with the Red Cross insignia.