Aside from supplying most of the cocaine consumed in the United States, Colombia also is known as the kidnapping capital of the world. The country’s two guerrilla armies, the ELN and the FARC as they are known in Spanish, kidnap for money–just like common thugs–while right-wing death squads do so largely to terrorize opponents. Salud Hernandez-Mora is president of Pais Libre, or Free Country, an organization that combats kidnapping and helps its victims.
Q. How many kidnappings are we talking about?
A. Officially, last year we had about 3,700 kidnappings, but to that you can easily add 10 percent that were never reported to the police. Of those, 80 or so people died in captivity, 1,300 are still missing, 40 escaped and the rest were freed after paying a ransom. The situation has worsened terribly. In 1999 we had 3,200 kidnappings. The increase last year was largely due to two mass kidnappings, including 150 people at a church during mass.
Q. During mass?
A. The guerrillas kidnapped about 150 parishioners–and the priest–in Cali during Sunday mass a little more than a year ago. They hauled everyone away in trucks. The mountains are only a half-hour away, so there was no time for the police to react. Everyone was returned eventually, but they all had to pay ransom. In another group kidnapping, 50 diners at a Cali restaurant were taken. They were released after the army went looking for them, but three of the hostages died.
Q. Are most of the kidnappings the work of the guerrillas?
A. Nowadays about 85 percent of all kidnappings are carried out by the guerrillas, and some by common criminals. Right-wing paramilitaries also have become involved; last year they kidnapped 240 people. The guerrilla kidnappings are mostly extortions, even when they include political figures. They might make some demands from the government, but they basically want money. It’s the biggest revenue source for the ELN, about 70 percent, and 40 percent for the FARC, which now makes more money by providing protection for narcotraffickers. The paramilitaries usually kidnap for political reasons and often kill the victims.
Q. What kind of ransoms are demanded? How do you negotiate?
A. I have a letter from the ELN regarding a case exactly two years ago. It was a cattleman, and the kidnappers demanded $5 million. But after two years, the ELN came down to $4 million. The family, however, can only raise $1 million. The family is ruined and so is the business, since the man disappeared. The modus operandi is that they kidnap you and, after two weeks or a month, the guerrilla gets in touch with the family by phone and demands astronomically high ransoms. About six months later, the guerrilla contacts you again. Some families take to the jungle to negotiate directly with the guerrillas or to try to find the missing person. The guerrillas sometimes give you a cell phone for you to communicate with them. They even sell you the phone cards to use the phone. From then on, all the negotiations take place by cell phone.
Q. Are the rich and prominent the only ones affected?
A. Mostly the rich, but on March 23, 1998, the guerrillas introduced a new twist called “pesca milagrosa,” or “miraculous fishing.” They mount a roadblock and stop all cars and pick out the better or more expensive-looking ones, and everyone in them, thinking they are the ones with the money. They go car by car, telling people, “You come to the jungle with us.” Instead of picking out specific individuals and having to go to the city to kidnap them, they kidnap people at random.
Q. How has this wave of kidnappings affected the general population?
A. As you can imagine, the population has sharply curtailed its movement and travels. On some roads, traffic is down by 70 percent. People travel only during the Christmas and Easter weeks, when the army takes over the principal roads, and then they only travel during daylight hours. The rest of the year, they avoid driving except in emergencies or travel by plane.
Q. How about the families of the kidnapped?
A. When someone is kidnapped, in fact the whole family is held hostage. The family lives in permanent mourning. Wives become widows. But many refuse to give up hope. The other day I met a woman in a town called San Pablo, whose husband was kidnapped 14 years ago. Her brother told me that once in a while she still dresses up and says “Ay, I feel like he is going to show up tonight.” Or if they are having a particularly good meal, she sets aside a plate with food, “in case he reappears.” Another case involves an 80-year-old man. The family has paid the ransom twice, the last payment three years ago, but they’ve never heard from him. We are convinced that the man is dead, but the family refuses to accept it. It’s difficult to bury a relative if you don’t have the body.
Q. What does your group do to help the situation?
A. One thing we have is a radio program, in which the families send one-minute messages to the kidnapped. We have so many requests, we can only give them a minute. Usually the messages are like “your son just passed some exam, or is doing very well in school.” Those who have been freed have told us that the guerrillas tune in and that the messages encourage the kidnapped to keep on living. Since the group was founded in 1991, we also have lobbied the government to pass a new law against kidnapping, with tougher, mandatory sentences, and to buy more equipment to fight kidnapping. We also provide psychological counseling to the families, and keep the issue of kidnappings in the news.
Q. Do you negotiate with kidnappers?
A. No. In fact, we try to get corporations to sign pledges not to pay for kidnapped employees. In February, an American oil company paid $13 million in ransom for four employees. That’s wrong. We must take the profit out of kidnappings.
Q. As a journalist, isn’t it a conflict of interest to get involved in an issue and cover it at the same time?
A. Sometimes it’s difficult. But my editors go along with it. The FARC commanders also know I’m involved with the foundation and they criticize me for working with the “oligarchy,” with the “counterrevolutionary elements.” But the crisis in Colombia has reached such a point that it’s very difficult to just report and stay on the sidelines.
