Kidnap victim found dead

A pensioner who had been kidnapped on Thursday was found dead in the south western department of Cauca, close to where he was kidnapped.

A group of heavily armed men had kidnapped the 69-year-old Fabio Valencia from his home in the outskirts of the village of Piendamo.

According to several media, a forensics team is investigating the cause of death.

Authorities were able to rescue one kidnap victim who had been kidnapped the day before Valencia.

The rescued hostage had been kidnapped together with a colleague from the town of El Tambo, also on the Cauca department. In a speech, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos blamed the FARC for the kidnapping and said he had almost suspended the ongoing release of hostages because of the kidnapping of the two.

According to Pais Libre, a NGO dedicated to kidnap victims and their families, 282 kidnappings were reported in Colombia in 2010. 57% of these kidnappings are attributed to common criminals, 23% to the FARC, 12% to the ELN and the remaining 7% to neo-paramilitary groups.

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