Colombia's main rebel group has ruled out an exchange of prisoners with the government of President Alvaro Uribe.
In a statement on its website, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) said President Uribe lacked the political will to agree such a deal.
The Farc is holding about 60 hostages - including a former politician and several foreigners.
Mr Uribe has pursued a tough military campaign against the rebels since coming to office in 2002.
But commentators suggest he had been keen to secure the release of the hostages ahead of presidential and congressional elections in May.
'No reciprocity'
The idea of a prisoner exchange was put forward by France, Spain and Switzerland.
It would have involved setting up a demilitarised area for the two sides to discuss the terms of the exchange.
In the statement, the Farc acknowledged the "good offices" of the three European nations.
But it said: "We have spent years seeking a humanitarian exchange so that the captives are able to leave the jails and the mountains and can be reunited with their [loved ones], but neither in [former President Andres] Pastrana nor in Uribe we have found reciprocity...
"It is clear that with Uribe there will be no humanitarian exchange. The country needs a president with political will," the statement said.
There has been no official response from the government to the statement. But in a New Year's Eve speech, President Uribe said the exchange was unlikely to happen in the coming months.
"The response that the Farc gave was the murder of 29 army soldiers," AP news agency quoted him as saying. He was referring to a 27 December Farc assault on a remote military camp in southern Colombia - the deadliest rebel attack on the army since Mr Uribe took office.
The president said the military would continue to try to rescue the hostages.
Oil wells attacked
Meanwhile, police blamed Farc militants for destroying eight oil wells and an electricity pylon over the weekend.
The attacks left at least 100,000 residents of the southern jungle province of Putumayo, on the border with Ecuador, without power.
Local media reported three people were injured. Authorities warned crude oil spillages from the oil wells had contaminated nearby rivers.
Violent clashes have recently escalated in Colombia since December. Analysts suggest rebels are trying to defend their rural strongholds ahead of the elections.
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