CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Thursday hailed a Colombian rescue operation that freed former politician Ingrid Betancourt, three Americans and 11 other hostages from the hands of Marxist rebels.

"We are overjoyed at the liberation of those people," Chavez said, following nearly a day of unusual silence after the rescue was announced.

Colombia's military on Wednesday tricked rebels into freeing the hostages from a jungle camp in a bloodless rescue that deals a severe blow to Latin America's oldest left-wing insurgency.

Tensions have run high between Venezuela's Chavez, a self-styled revolutionary allied with Cuba, and Colombia's pro-Washington President Alvaro Uribe who has received billions of dollars in military aid from the United States.

Bogota has been angered by Chavez's expressions of sympathy for the Colombian rebels, though Chavez last month called on the guerrillas to release all hostages in their power.