Kidnappings in Colombia

With the release of Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt on July 2, 2008 this practice gained worldwide notoriety.

The groups resort to ransom kidnappings to punish tax evasion and incentivize inhabitants not to shirk.

[3] By July 2005, the FARC alone had an estimated 2500 kidnapped civilians,[4] without including the number of military servicemen or government officials.

Guerrilla organizations typically demand a ransom, while paramilitary groups generally used the practice as a means of terror or coercion.

Most commonly these are performed after victims withdraw money from ATMs or while riding in fake, terrorist-operated taxi cabs.