Gov. Bill Richardson's list of goals for this weekend's trip to Venezuela might look something like this: Meet with President Hugo Chávez. Get Chávez to say he'll try to talk Colombian rebels into freeing three U.S. citizen hostages. Eventually, get those hostages out of the jungle.

Underneath that game plan, however, some say there's another task Richardson could complete on his 36-hour international jaunt: Let the world know he is just the kind of diplomat who can pull that off.

By showing he can hop on a plane from New Mexico and soon be shaking hands with one of the hemisphere's perceived bad guys, Richardson reinforces his prowess as a negotiator and humanitarian. At the same time, he sends a message: I could be the next secretary of state.

If U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois wins the presidency, Steven Clemons, director of the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation, said Richardson is reminding him "of how important he would be as either a potential secretary of state or vice president."

Clemons, who has worked for U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and publishes the Web site www.TheWashingtonNote.com, said the trip is "Bill Richardson's way to continuously remind people of the incredible value that he can add to micro problem solving."

Richardson shuns the idea that this trip — funded by the Santa Fe Community Foundation — is a dress rehearsal for a prized post or an attempt to show what he can do in places where few U.S. politicians would go. "I'm doing it because I like doing it," Richardson said in an interview. "I've had success at it. ... It's not a dress rehearsal."

In past forays, Richardson has secured the release of prisoners, hostages and servicemen from places including Iraq, Cuba and North Korea.

There's no doubt that success in South America now would bolster his stature, should New Mexico's governor — an Obama backer — want to be secretary of state in a Democratic administration.

Richardson has left that door open, saying if drafted for a job other than the presidency, he would consider it.

The hostages

This trip is Richardson's second aimed at securing the release of hostages who have been held in a South American jungle since 2003 without contact with their families. Last month, he visited Colombia, where the hostages are prisoners of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC.

Richardson said the goal of that trip was to start meeting key players in the situation, including Colombian President Álvaro Uribe, a U.S. ally.

This aim of the trip is to connect with Chávez, an antagonist of the Bush administration, who is seen as an intermediary and to whom FARC members earlier this year released several hostages.

Richardson said he doesn't expect to secure any releases on this trip. "The initial goals are to meet the principals ... establish trust with both of them so I can be a viable mediator," he said.

The hostages — Keith Stansell, Marc Gonsalves and Tom Howes — are military contractors who were captured by FARC after their plane crashed during a mission to locate coca fields. They were working for a division of Northrop Grumman, California Microwave.

The rebels want to exchange the U.S. hostages for members of their group who are jailed by the Colombian government. FARC also holds other hostages, including a French-Colombian woman who was once a presidential candidate, Ingrid Betancourt.

Parents of the hostages have heard little about their sons, relying on journalists to give them word the men are still alive. They have pleaded to a passel of government officials for help, to no avail.

Some see Chávez, who appears to have good relations with FARC, and Richardson, a diplomatic trouble-shooter who grew up in Mexico City, as their best bets for progress in the standoff.

While the family members have had teleconferences with Richardson, some have met in person with Chávez in hopes he'll talk with the rebels.

But Chávez isn't without his baggage: Many might remember him as the guy from an oil-rich nation who called President Bush "the devil" during a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly in 2006. He's also said publicly he believes Bush wants to invade Venezuela.

Bush's relationship with Chávez, meanwhile, has consisted mostly of ignoring him.

Still, Richardson, who has met Chávez before, including when he was sworn in as Venezuela's president, has said he thinks he can connect with the colorful socialist leader and work with him on the release.

"I feel very strongly that we need to negotiate with those we disagree with," the governor said.

"Hopefully, we can establish a personal connection so he gains trust in my ability to maybe become a mediator and succeed in getting the hostages out."

So what makes Richardson think he can pull off a feat that a dozen other negotiators have tried?

"My hope is an that I'm an outsider, an American of Hispanic origin who has had successes before, speaks the language, knows the region, is respectful of the various positions, is basically pretty quiet about this."

Bigger picture

On the day he quit the U.S. presidential race in January, Richardson pledged he would start up again with his international missions.

Some who know him best wonder what took so long.

The former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and Department of Energy secretary under President Clinton is a seasoned negotiator who can tick off a list countries he's been to — and negotiated hostage releases — as easily as running through the alphabet.

Most recently, he secured the release in Sudan of a Chicago Tribune reporter who lives in New Mexico.

While he has focused more on state business since quitting the presidential race, that's far from all he's done.

Recently, he met with the Mexican ambassador to the United States. He gave a foreign-policy speech at New Mexico State University. He even met with Colombian rock-music powerhouse Juanes, who is involved in the justice movement in Latin America.

Richardson's ambition in South America is something the United States should embrace, said Bernard Aronson, former assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs under Presidents Bush and Clinton. "Our historic mistake in Latin America is we tend to neglect the region and not pay much attention except when there are crises," said Aronson, who now works for a private-equity investment company in Washington, D.C.

"I think we have an historical tendency to not give Latin America the seriousness it deserves," he said, pointing out the United States exports four times as much to Mexico as it does to China.

While many believe there is work to be done when it comes the United States' relations with Latin America, Richardson said that's not what this trip is about. His efforts are "not geared to improving U.S. relations with Venezuela or other issues. It's just purely a humanitarian mission."

Richardson isn't representing anyone on the trip, but his office is in contact with the State Department about his work.

The Santa Fe Community Foundation is paying for the trip out of its Peacemaker Fund, money set aside specifically for peacemaking purposes, said foundation president Billie Blair, a former associate publisher of The New Mexican.

While Richardson hopes to bring peace to the families of the hostages, he says, there's something in the trip for him as well. "I like the thrill of being able to secure the release of those hostages," he said.

Contact Kate Nash at 986-3036 or knash@sfnewmexican.com. Read her blog, Green Chile Chatter, at www.sfnewmexican.com.

More information on the hostage situation from NPR.

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Contact Kate Nash at 986-3036 or knash@sfnewmexican.com. Read her blog, Green Chile Chatter, at www.sfnewmexican.com.