The Colombian army has rescued an oil worker kidnapped by ELN guerrillas in the country’s northeastern Arauca department, newspaper El Pais reported Tuesday.
Troops from the army’s 18th Brigade found the security head of the Oxy oil company, Carlos Rodriguez, in a rural area of Arauca with assistance from a helicopter. He had been kidnapped by ELN guerrillas on Monday while driving in the area known as Caño Negro in the Gibraltar, a district of the Cubara municipality in Arauca.
“Nearly six guerrillas had me and they demanded COP 50 million [around $30,000] for my freedom, I told them at various times that I didn’t have this amount and to let me go. One of the guerrillas told me that if I didn’t pay first I’d end up dead,” said the oil security worker, according to newspaper El Espectador.
According to army sources, one guerrilla was caught during the operation and turned over to judicial authorities. Rodriguez said that the rest of the guerrillas let him go and then fled as a result of the army’s pressure.
