Released Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, hostage Clara Rojas arrives Thursday to the Maiquetia airport near Caracas. Helicopters sent by Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez plucked two rebel-held hostages from the Colombian jungles and flew them to Venezuela.

Caracas, Venezuela ? Helicopters sent by Venezuela’s president picked up two hostages freed by Colombian rebels in the jungle Thursday and flew the women across the border in a mission that could open a new path to freedom for dozens of captives.

Beaming in a forest clearing after six years in captivity, the women kissed the cheeks of heavily armed rebels, who then disappeared in a single-file column into the brush. The women, thin but apparently in good health, were flown to Caracas, where they were embraced by tearful relatives.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez greeted them with hugs and kisses at the presidential palace. The women and their families stood alongside him and sang Colombia’s national anthem while a military band played. They made no public comments when they left in a car and a van.

Clara Rojas was an aide to Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt in February 2002 when the two were kidnapped. She gave birth in captivity to a boy fathered by one of the guerrillas. Betancourt is still being held.

The other freed hostage, former congresswoman Consuelo Gonzalez, had been abducted in September 2001. During her captivity, her husband died and a grandchild – now 2 – was born to one of her daughters.

Their release was a major triumph for Chavez, whose leftist ideology helped win him a mediation role with the rebels.

It was the most important hostage release in the half-century Colombian conflict since 2001, when the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, freed some 300 soldiers and police officers. Chavez said the mission demonstrated that “there are possibilities” to secure the release of more FARC hostages, who include Betancourt and three American defense contractors.