Kidnapping is ''harder to deal with than death

What about the other hostages? A very sad truth about hostages taken by
the FARC. Come on Sr. Hugo give us your opinion.....

BOGOTA --
In a second-floor window of an apartment building in Bogotá's quaint neighborhood of Usaquén, a sign proclaims: ``In my family there are 3,143 hostages.''

It's a simple but powerful reminder that Colombia's hostage crisis extends far beyond the few dozen kidnapping victims that leftist rebels want to exchange for jailed guerrillas. And a recognition that despite recent dramatic drops in new abductions, Colombia still has the world's highest number of hostages -- some of them held for as long as a decade.

A kidnapping is ''harder to deal with than death,'' said Patricia Perdomo, 37, daughter of former Colombian Sen. Consuelo González de Perdomo, held hostage since September 2001.

González is one of at least 45 high-profile hostages held as political leverage by leftist rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. They include former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, several other Colombian politicians and three U.S. military contractors.

Until last week, it also was believed the FARC held a 3-year old boy born in captivity to Betancourt's running mate, Clara Rojas, and one of her guerrilla captors. But on Friday, both government DNA tests and the FARC confirmed the boy, named Emmanuel, actually had been living in foster care in Bogotá.

The FARC had promised to release the boy, his mother and lawmaker Consuelo González to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez at year's end in a goodwill gesture.

The handover failed when it turned out the FARC actually did not have the boy.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe recently called off an effort for a ''humanitarian accord'' to exchange the 45 for some 500 jailed rebels after accusing mediator Chávez of breaking the ground rules.

The decision drew heavy criticism from Uribe's political foes and others who complained the conservative president was too inflexible. The sign on the Usaquén window demands, ``Humanitarian Accord Now! ''

SMALL PERCENTAGE

But such high-profile hostages represent a mere 4 percent of all the 3,000-plus kidnapping victims in Colombia, according to the Free Country Foundation [www.paislibre.org], a non-governmental organization that fights against kidnappings and helps victims' families. Aside from the 45, the FARC alone currently holds at least 700 others for monetary ransoms.

'Those are the `anonymous hostages,' '' said Olga Lucia Gómez, director of Free Country, ``the ones no one talks about.''

They are typically middle-class men who own small businesses, butcher shops, small-town bakeries and mom-and-pop stores. They are kidnapped for ransom, either by the FARC, the smaller rebel group National Liberation Army, common criminals or right-wing paramilitary groups. Captors often demand exorbitant amounts of money from the families.

The number of new kidnappings in Colombia has dropped dramatically in the past seven years, according to government figures. From a peak of 3,572 in 2000, the figure plunged to 472 in the first 11 months of 2007. Still a high number, government officials admit, but a vast improvement on the past.

BETTER SECURITY

Gómez recognizes the progress made in preventing kidnappings, in part through improved security, but says the Uribe government has paid little attention to those already being held.

''There may be a lot of military intelligence, but there's no emotional intelligence,'' she says, adding that only international pressure has forced Uribe, whose own father was killed in a botched FARC kidnap attempt, to give any thought to the victims.

World attention has been trained on Colombia's ''swappable'' hostages since newly elected French President Nicolas Sarkozy made freeing Betancourt, a French-Colombian citizen, a priority.

One frustration of the families of the political hostages is that negotiations for the freedom of their loved ones are out of their hands.

''Freedom for those hostages depends of the negotiations between the government and the rebels,'' says Herbin Hoyos, who runs a radio program, Voices of Kidnap, that broadcasts relatives' messages to kidnapping victims. ``Often they wish they could just pay a ransom.''

But those who receive ransom notes or calls very often cannot pay the exorbitant sums demanded. In return for releasing Gerardo Angulo and his wife, Carmenza, in 2000, the FARC demanded the equivalent of $425,000, said their daughter Patricia. She and her siblings tried to convince the guerrillas that their parents, then both 71 years old, did not have that kind of money. Angulo owned a small metal working shop and the couple lived in a modest house in La Calera, near Bogotá.

The family managed to scrounge up a fraction of what was demanded and handed over the money to guerrillas. Patricia Angulo and her family have not heard from their parents or the rebels since. The family has been told the couple was killed, but still relatives send messages through Voices of Kidnap.

''I send them messages every week. If we haven't found the bodies, then we still hope they're alive. And if they're alive, our messages are a lifeline,'' said Angulo.

Angulo added that she gets frustrated with all the attention lavished on high-profile hostages such as Betancourt, Rojas and the three Americans.

''My mother and father are Colombian and they are human beings. They are suffering the same as the others,'' she said.

In a message to their parents posted on the Voices of Kidnap program's website last month, Angulo's brother Helmuth writes: ``What should I do so that Chávez and the media stop believing that Ingrid is the only hostage?''

Miami Herald Special Correspondent Phil Gunson contributed from Venezuela.

By elk on Jan 6, 2008, 05:34 in Friendly Talkzone.

robi666 says on Jan 6, 2008, 06:43:

Ex AUCs are the biggest problem right now. They get you, ask for money or sell you to the Guerilla.

"I am a citizen of the most beautiful nation on earth. A nation whose laws are harsh yet simple, a nation that never cheats, which is immense and without borders, where life is lived in the present."

miamimike says on Jan 6, 2008, 08:07:

Robi666,,,And they are living in many low-middle and Upper class bogota/medellin barrios! You don't know if the corner butcher, Bar owner, shoemaker ect have you in their sights for a fast easy ransom,,,

Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." GW Bush

gabolicious says on Jan 6, 2008, 10:12:

GIB "No place for a gringo." I was wondering how have you been surviving after all?

"The new land of opportunities: Colombia!" ----- Mr Miguel_Clavo on PBH

Medellin Traveler says on Jan 6, 2008, 11:01:

I sometimes think these things are blown out of proportion. There are many people doing business in Medellin, including gringos and I don't hear anything about rampant kidnappings.

gringoinbogota,
Why the sudden change in views?

Medellin Es Una Chimba! - www.medellintraveler.com

miamimike says on Jan 6, 2008, 11:29:

Similair Article in Today's Miami Herald: In Colombia, most hostages are everyday people
High-profile hostages make up 4 percent of Colombia's 3,000-plus kidnapping victims. Most are middle-class, small-business owners.
Posted on Sun, Jan. 06, 2008Digg del.icio.us AIM reprint print email
BY SIBYLLA BRODZINSKY
Special to The Miami Herald

BOGOTA -- In a second-floor window of an apartment building in Bogotá's quaint neighborhood of Usaquén, a sign proclaims: ``In my family there are 3,143 hostages.''

It's a simple but powerful reminder that Colombia's hostage crisis extends far beyond the few dozen kidnapping victims that leftist rebels want to exchange for jailed guerrillas. And a recognition that despite recent dramatic drops in new abductions, Colombia still has the world's highest number of hostages -- some of them held for as long as a decade.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/368745.html

Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." GW Bush

john_stark says on Jan 6, 2008, 15:00:

Don't tell Medellin Traveler. He thinks it's all hype.

robi666 says on Jan 6, 2008, 20:00:

Not to talk about the ones who pay to not be kidnapped...