3 years ago, Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and her campaign director Clara Rojas were kidnapped by the FARC guerrilla who now keeps 3000 hostages in the Colombian jungle (1200 more are held by the paramilitaries and other groups). Because she was a celebrity outside Colombia before her kidnapping, her detention has received a lot of attention abroad (to some people's chagrin), particularly in Europe (where she's been nominated for "citizen of honour" in more than 1000 towns) and Canada (see also this US documentary).

For the other Colombian hostages, however, the main source of support comes from the radio: Las Voces del Secuestro (Voices of the Kidnapped) is a weekly program for the relatives of hostages to send out messages to their loved ones.
posted by elgilito on Feb 23, 2005 - 12 comments

Well, they've been found. The remains of Ashley Pond and Miranda Gaddis, the highly-publicized first victims of the "summer of child kidnappings," have been found at the [former] home of the FBI's main "subject of interest."

Damn, damn, damn.
posted by wdpeck on Aug 25, 2002 - 102 comments

WSJ Reporter Daniel Pearl allegedly killed I certainly hope the reports aren't true. By placing the international media under seige, the stakes of the "war" against terrorism will rise drastically.
posted by prozaction on Feb 1, 2002 - 51 comments