-Caveat Lector- May 16, 2001 From the Los Angeles Times Paramilitary is suspected of kidnapping in Colombia Email this story Printer friendly format By Ruth Morris Times Staff Writer Published May 16 2001, 9:16 PM CDT BOGOTA, Colombia -- Suspected paramilitary gunmen went on a kidnapping rampage through the tropical lowlands of eastern Colombia, plucking nearly 200 people from buses, bicycles and farmhouses, the armed forces said Wednesday. Most of the victims worked on plantations near the hamlet of Villanueva and were heading home from work Tuesday afternoon when men wearing fatigues intercepted their caravan. Locals said the gunmen numbered about 40 and that they focused their attention on youths. Gen. Fernando Tapias, the head of the armed forces, said the hostages included 53 minors and at least one woman. "This is a collective kidnapping with characteristics that we've never seen in this country," Tapias said. Colombia has long been dubbed the kidnapping capital of the world, and leftist rebels have pulled off several spectacular mass abductions in the last two years. But Tuesday's kidnapping involved more victims and is being attributed to the rebels' right-wing paramilitary foes. The gunmen didn't identify themselves, but authorities speculated that right-wing death squads mounted the attack to forcibly recruit new troops. To back up this claim, they said members of the so-called United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, known for massacres of suspected rebel sympathizers, were operating in the region. "The only delinquents in that area are members of the Self-Defense Forces," a regional military spokesman said. "There were 190 people kidnapped in total, some of whom were traveling in buses, some on bicycles, others by foot," he said. Some of the victims were reportedly also taken from the plantations. If militias were indeed involved, Tuesday's kidnapping will mark a new chapter in terrorist violence in Colombia. Until now, Colombia's second-largest rebel group, the National Liberation Army, or ELN, has been the principal actor is such high-profile attacks. For example, it was the ELN that apprehended more than 140 churchgoers in the city of Cali in 1999, herding them off to a mountain hide-out in broad daylight. Villanueva, with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants, is 80 miles east of Bogota, the capital, but access is hampered by poor roads and faulty telephone connections. As a result, news of the kidnapping was slow to reach the national media. Preliminary reports Tuesday evening put the kidnapping figure at just 27. But by the following morning, the Villanueva mayor's office was handling nearly 200 missing persons reports filed by frantic family members. Colombia's armed forces have been fighting Marxist rebel factions for decades, but in the late 1980s paramilitary groups emerged as a third actor in the country's complicated conflict. Copyright © 2001, The Los Angeles Times <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
