A journalist released Monday by the leftist rebel group ELN said her kidnapping was part of the guerrilla’s campaign against multinational companies in northeastern Colombia.
Elida Parra Alfonso told Radio Caracol Monday that the ELN held the two women hostage because of their work for the multinational Bicentennial. Parra was kidnapped together with her colleague Gina Uribe from their homes in Saravena, Arauca on July 25 and released on Monday,
Both women had been doing contract work for the Bicentennial Oil Pipeline, a $4.2 billion construction project set to be Colombia’s longest pipeline, carrying crude oil along the Venezuelan border to Caribbean ports.
Para said she is unsure whether to return to her work for the pipeline because of security reasons. The journalist added that petroleum companies offer the only jobs in the region and the ELN is now taking away that option from the locals.