Colombia’s defense minister said Wednesday that kidnapping in his country has fallen by 12% in the first nine months of 2012, compared with the same period last year.
The practice of kidnapping in Colombia has diminished significantly over the past 12 years, according to the defense minister Wednesday.
Speaking at the Third International Congress of Anti-Kidnapping in Bogota, Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon claimed there have only been 200 reported cases of kidnapping in Colombia so far this year.
Pinzon linked the decline in abductions to an overall improvement in Colombian security over the last decade.
Minister Pinzon also noted that Colombia’s experience in dealing with kidnappers had allowed it to provide advice to other nations, such as Paraguay, Ecuador and Honduras. “The combined efforts of law enforcement agencies have effectively limited the violent acts, and have allowed us to accumulate valuable knowledge to be shared with our sister nations,” he said.
Colombian rebel group FARC, in 2011 responsible for 26% of all kidnapping, announced earlier this year it would abandon the practice.