The governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, doubtless aimed actually to win freedom for the three American hostages being held by the terrorist group known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, when he went to Caracas this weekend to meet with the Venezuelan strongman, Hugo Chavez, who holds sway over the group. But the most valuable service he performed may have been raising the profile of the three hostages, who have been held captive for more than five years with surprisingly little attention from the American public.

The three hostages — Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell, and Thomas Howes — are identified by the American military as contractors working for California Microwave Systems, a unit of Northrop Grumman Corp., on assignment for the Defense Department. On February 13, 2003, they were flying a plane over Southern Colombia on a mission to survey the crops of coca, the plant that ends up as cocaine on the streets of New York. The plane crashed, and the pilot, Thomas Janis, an American citizen, and a Colombian Army Sergeant, Luis Alcides Cruz, were killed by the FARC terrorists, according to the American government.

The others on the plane included Mr. Gonsalves, a Florida native who had served in the Air Force and has a wife and three children. Mr. Stansell, a former Marine, is a father of two. Mr. Howes has a wife and two sons. At a recent ceremony to mark the five years the three men had been held, the chief of Southern Command, Admiral James Stavridis, said, "Mark, Keith and Tom, please know that we will work every day, every night, until we bring you home where you belong."

The American military says the command has devoted 17,000 flight hours, pursued hundreds of leads, and has devoted a staff of 35 people working full time to win the release of the hostages and bring to justice the kidnappers and murderers. It's too early to tell if Mr. Richardson's trip to Caracas ends up as fruitless as did President Carter's attempt to win from Hamas the release of the Israeli hostages Eldad Regev, Ehud Goldwasser, and Gilad Shalit. In both cases the return of the hostages can't come soon enough.