Kidnappings in Colombia refers to the practice of kidnapping in the Republic of Colombia. 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, 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 also used this practice to intimidate politicians who were trying to approve in congress 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.[1][2]
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 and incentivize inhabitants not to shirk.[3]
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92%was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Gilbert, Danielle (2022). "The Logic of Kidnapping in Civil War: Evidence from Colombia". American Political Science Review. 116 (4): 1226–1241. doi:10.1017/S0003055422000041. ISSN 0003-0554. S2CID 247649168.