El País: Colombia’s Kidnapping Business is Booming Again
Colombia’s kidnapping business is booming again
Between January and March 2022, 35 kidnappings were registered in the South American country. In the same period of 2023, the figure doubled. Among the current victims is an 87-year-old man, the oldest hostage in the world.
A man dressed in black, barefoot and sitting on a plastic chair speaks into the camera of his kidnappers’ cellphone. This is for proof of life. He says that he’s fine and asks his family to get the money his captors are asking for, so that they can buy his freedom.
Heriberto Urbina is 86-years-old. Since April, he’s been living through his third kidnapping. The family fears for his health. The phenomenon of kidnapping has never totally disappeared in Colombia… but over the last year, the rate of incidence has doubled.
Urbina has dedicated his entire life to livestock. Until the day of the kidnapping, he worked on his farm from dawn to dusk. He was buying fuel in Curumaní – in the northern Caesar department (region) – when suddenly, several motorcycles appeared: three armed men got out and walked over to Urbina’s vehicle, pointing a gun at him. He thought it was a robbery and got out of his truck without resisting.
With the use of threats, they put him in the backseat. Two men sat on either side of him, pointing their weapons at his face. The vehicle slowly moved down the bumpy road, without any law enforcement officials noticing. Followed by the three motorcycles, they entered the mountains of the Serranía del Perijá. Once they were far away from the abduction site, the kidnappers burned Urbina’s vehicle and they all continued the journey on motorcycle. The family contacted the military authorities and, that same night, pilots flew over the area with planes. The next day, they used a helicopter… but in such vast terrain, they couldn’t find a trace of the farmer.
April 24 was the beginning of a tortuous transition – not only for Urbina, but also for his family. The biggest concern was that his already-deteriorated health could worsen, due to pre-existing conditions that afflict him. “The anguish is that these men have kidnapped a person whose days are numbered,” one of his relatives laments.
The kidnappers are demanding a sum of money that the family doesn’t have. “He’s going to die and it’ll be your fault,” they say threateningly, whenever they call up Urbina’s relatives. Although the captors have identified themselves as being members of the Clan del Golfo (a paramilitary group), the community points to the ELN guerillas as the perpetrators of the kidnapping. The ELN hasn’t made a statement regarding the case, but members of the Clan del Golfo have unofficially denied their involvement in the kidnapping.
In 1997, Urbina experienced his first kidnapping, at the hands of ELN insurgents. He was held captive for nine months and 21 days. And, a year later, he was intercepted by FARC guerrillas on a highway, at one of the group’s illegal roadblocks. This was also for the purpose of extortion....