(The Associated Press) - "Brazil is offering its support - and its neutral territory- to help Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez mediate a prisoner exchange between the Colombian government and that country's leftist rebels.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is expected to offer Chávez the use of Brazilian territory when the two presidents meet in the Amazon city of Manaus.

Chávez is attempting to negotiate an exchange of imprisoned Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, guerrillas for rebel-held hostages, including three U.S. defense contractors and former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, a French-Colombian citizen.

'Brazil trusts President Chávez as a mediator of this conflict and has offered the possibility, should it be necessary, of holding meetings on Brazilian soil,' Silva spokesman Marcelo Baumbach said at a news conference at the presidential palace in Brasilia.

Both Brazil and Venezuela share borders with Colombia and would benefit from any easing of tensions in the neighboring nation".