First of five Colombian hostages to be released by the FARC

(CNN) -- Helicopters early Wednesday were prepared to take off from Villavicencio, Colombia and into the jungle for what would be the first of five hostage releases by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

The Marxist rebels were expected to release Marcos Baquero, a councilman from the town of San Jose de Guaviare, who has been held captive for one year and seven months.

Ex-Senator Piedad Cordoba, who helped secure the release, said that everything was ready for the humanitarian mission to begin, she said on her Twitter account.

"A kidnapping is something difficult for the person in the jungle as much as for those who stay at home," Baquero's wife, Olga Lucia Tao Ibarra, told CNN en Español. "The person who is in the jungle is risking his life, but those of us at home, not knowing anything about him, waking up night and day not knowing his whereabouts, that's very hard."

At the time Baquero was kidnapped, he had a two-month old baby. The child is now nearly 2 years old.

The FARC is a leftist guerrilla group that has been at war with the Colombian government since the 1960s.

Four other hostages are expected to be released on Friday and Sunday.