Kidnappings in Colombia refers to the practice of kidnapping in the

Republic of Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Cari ...

. This criminal practice was first introduced in modern Colombian history during the early 1970s by the guerrilla movements and, later, also by criminal groups. With the release of Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt on July 2, 2008 this practice gained worldwide notoriety. Guerrilla groups like the M-19, the

FARC The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army ( es, link=no, Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de ColombiaEjército del Pueblo, FARC–EP or FARC) is a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian confl ...

, ELN among others widely exploited this practice. To counter these paramilitary groups also adopted this method to intimidate adversaries. Drug cartels like the

Medellín Cartel The Medellín Cartel ( es, Cartel de Medellín) was a powerful and highly organized Colombian drug cartel and terrorist organization originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia that was founded and led by Pablo Escobar. It is often considered ...

also used this practice to intimidate politicians who were trying to approve in

congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

an extradition treaty with the United States, and also used in drug cartel wars. Regular criminal organizations also kidnap and sell persons of interest to guerrilla groups. Police in Colombia say the number of people kidnapped has fallen 92% since 2000. Common criminals are now the perpetrators of the overwhelming majority of kidnappings. According to a 2022 study by political scientist Danielle Gilbert, armed groups in Colombia engage in ransom kidnappings as a way to maintain the armed groups' local systems of taxation. The groups resort to ransom kidnappings to punish

tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the tax ...

and incentivize inhabitants not to shirk.

Extent

By July 2005, the FARC alone had an estimated 2500 kidnapped civilians, without including the number of military servicemen or government officials. The paramilitary groups were estimated to have kidnapped 500 people between 1996 and 2004. Guerrilla organizations typically demand a ransom, while paramilitary groups generally used the practice as a means of terror or coercion. Since the 1970s, kidnappings in Colombia gradually increased until 2001. In the year 2000 alone the number of kidnapped people in Colombia rose to 3572. This number declined steadily in the following years, reaching 687 kidnappings in 2006. By the year 2015, the number of kidnappings had declined to 213 and it continues to decline. Colombia no longer has the highest rate of kidnappings in the world. By the year 2016, the number of kidnappings in Colombia had declined to 205 and it continues to decline. Common criminals are now the perpetrators of the overwhelming majority of kidnappings.

Other forms of kidnapping

Following the guerrilla's example, criminal organizations mostly based in large cities began to practice

Express kidnapping Express kidnapping ( es, secuestro exprés; pt, sequestro relâmpago) is a method of abduction where a small immediate ransom is demanded, often by the victim being forced to withdraw money from their ATM account. Known in the United States sin ...

s (''secuestros express''), colloquially named " Millionaire tours" (''Paseo Millionario''). Victims are boarded in places with little police presence or where they are most vulnerable. Most commonly these are performed after victims withdraw money from ATMs or while riding in fake, terrorist-operated taxi cabs.

Famous kidnapped victims

by drug cartels

Diana Turbay Diana Consuelo Turbay Quintero (March 9, 1950 – January 25, 1991) was a Colombian journalist kidnapped by the Medellín Cartel and killed by the Colombian Guerrilla during a botched rescue attempt. Her story has been portrayed in a non-fiction ...

(Killed during a botched rescue attempt) * Andrés Pastrana (Rescued) * Francisco Santos (Released)

by FARC

''See

List of political hostages held by FARC The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) was a self-proclaimed Marxist-Leninist revolutionary guerrilla organization, listed internationally as a terrorist group by a number of countries. Estimates claim that the FARC at one point had h ...

'' * Ingrid Betancourt (Rescued) *

Fernando Araújo Perdomo Fernando Araújo Perdomo (born 27 June 1955 in Cartagena, Bolivar) is a Colombian politician. He was the Minister of Development during the administration of Andrés Pastrana. He resigned from this post after the Chambacú land deal scandal. ...

(Escaped) * Oscar Tulio Lizcano (Escaped) *

Guillermo Gaviria Correa Guillermo Gaviria Correa (November 27, 1962, Medellín – May 5, 2003) was the state governor of Antioquia, a province of over 6 million people in northwestern Colombia. Kidnapped by FARC guerrillas during a march against violence on April 21, ...

(Killed during a botched rescue attempt) *

Jhon Frank Pinchao Jhon Frank Pinchao Blanco (born 1970) is a Colombian policeman with the rank of Second Lieutenant who was kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group after Farc's attack on the town of Mitú, Vaupés Department ...

(Escaped) *

Consuelo González Operation Emmanuel ( es, Operación Emmanuel) was a humanitarian operation that rescued politician Clara Rojas, her son Emmanuel (born in captivity), and former senator Consuelo González from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in ...

(Released) * Farc's kidnapping of 12 Valle del Cauca Deputies (11 were killed during a fight between two rebel units. The only survivor was freed in February 2009) *

Alan Jara Alan Edmundo Jara Urzola (born 17 July 1957) is a Colombian civil engineer, and current Governor of the Department of Meta. He was kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People' ...

(Released) *

Keith Stansell Keith Donald Stansell is an American Northrop Grumman employee who was captured by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, or FARC) and was held hostage from February 13, 2003 to July 2, 2008. He w ...

(Rescued) *

Marc Gonsalves Marc David Gonsalves (born 1972) is an American Northrop Grumman employee who was abducted by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and was held hostage from February 13, 2003, to July 2, 2008. He was rescued in Operation Jaque, along ...

(Rescued) * Thomas Howes (Rescued) *

Luis Francisco Cuellar Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...

(Killed in captivity) *

Thomas Hargrove Thomas Rex Hargrove (3 March 1944 – 22 January 2011) was an American agricultural scientist and journalist, who was kidnapped in Colombia by FARC narco-guerillas in 1994. Throughout the 11 months he was captive, Hargrove secretly kept a diary wh ...

(Released; ordeal fictionalized in the 2001 movie

Proof of Life ''Proof of Life'' is a 2000 American action thriller film directed and produced by Taylor Hackford. The title refers to a phrase commonly used to indicate proof that a kidnap victim is still alive. The film's screenplay was written by Tony Gilr ...

) * Woodrow Wilson Bowling (Telecom owner/Diplomat/USA) (Escaped & Rescued by Ejercito National 2002) *Russell Stendal

By ELN

* Ancizar López (Died in captivity)

By paramilitaries

* Piedad Cordoba (Released)

References

External links

Fundación País LibreDetailed statistics of kidnappings in Colombia for 1996-2006K&R and Extorsion Monitor
June 2006
Express Kidnapping
May 8, 2006
MDE armed Robbery
January 28, 2006
Colombia's fight to end violence
BBC News, June 3, 2006
Entry 4
Silvana Paternostro, June 19, 2003

Sept 21, 2004 *{{in lang, es}
El Espectador; Timeline of kidnappings in Colombia
Colombia Hostage taking in Colombia National security in Colombia