Hostages held by the FARC receive a lot of attention both in and
outside Colombia, but people are forgetting that 90 percent of the
approximately 2800 hostages are held for ransom and not for political reasons,
says País Libre, an NGO devoted at the well being of the country’s
(former) hostages.
According to País Libre (Free Country) director Olgia Lucia Gomez, the attention given to the release or liberation of hostages held by the FARC is good, but she feels that 90 percent of the hostages in Colombia are ignored.
Gomez told Caracol Radio Sunday that those 2500 hostages are held for extortion by common criminals and not by the FARC or any other armed group.
Earlier figures by the foundation show the FARC is suspected to hold 700 people hostages. 28 of them are political hostages. The approximately 2100 remaining hostages are held by the ELN, paramilitary groups and common criminals.