Many of us find it hard to think about the social concerns of other realities. We think we are fine while the rest of the world lives in a manner far from our accustomed life.
As a Colombian I saw, lived, and am still living in the many versions of reality of my country, even as I now live in the United States. I have to admit I wouldn’t change my life now; I have a freedom that I didn’t have in my home country. I see many Americans who don't appreciate this freedom because they think their lives are set; they wouldn’t know how wonderful this freedom is until they had lost it.
Colombia is a wonderful country, with many cultures living in one single land, many types of weather, and a kaleidoscope of food and music to enjoy. Many tourists that go to Colombia see the lovely aspects that are sold in the brochures of the travel agencies. They never see the other reality of life in Columbia, where people live on less than 30 dollars a month, children starve, people are killed because a thief wanted to steal a cell phone, medical health care is impossible because income is so low. The worst of it is the 50-year war that has been continuing over the country. There are too many problems to mention them in just one article. Probably one of the scariest sides of this is daily kidnapping. People are still being deprived of their freedom because of their money, because of their political thinking, because of their sexual orientation, because of their status, because the muggers wanted some extra money at the expense of the victim's health and the victims’ families.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez wrote News of a Kidnapping (The title in Spanish is Noticia de Un Secuestro). The books tells the story of 10 kidnappings and the reactions of the families, exploring the effects and consequence of the tragic experience that is seen every single day in Colombia. Before I move on in the article I am not trying to belittle my country, just telling one of the most eerie aspects that Colombians face every day. There are many methods of kidnapping like the Millionaires ride (or the translation in Spanish El Paseo Millonario). This is one of the most horrible techniques used; the assailants simply grab their victim by any means, they throw the victim in a car and travel by gun point with their victim through different ATM's around the city, making the victim take cash out his bank accounts. At the end they drug or kill the victim and throw the body into a ditch. It’s terrible to know el paseo millonario and other torture methods are still present and people suffer in inconceivable ways because of the evil of a few people. Such individuals that make all Colombians look like drug dealers, extortionists and contrabandists. Those stereotypes are really hurtful and harmful toward the Colombian community.
The organization Pais Libre (the translation: Free Country; the website is in Spanish, but here is some information) gives insight about the atrocities and the psychological sequels for victims and family. It is a non governmental organization that gives emotional support to the victims on any level of kidnapping and also is one of the few organizations in Latin America that is educating people around the world about this tragedy.
According to Pais Libre, the group to be the most victimized is the male population, 79.9%, in contrast to the female 20.1%. There are several subversive organizations such as FARC, ELN, common delinquents and even family members who kidnap members of their own family to blackmail relatives. If you have some ability in Spanish, you can check this graphic of Pais Libre, or with the help of an on line translator you can learn about the information of the graphic.
Beyond the web page I gave, there are other resources for English readers, such as Amazon.com where you can buy News of a Kidnapping, a useful resource to the people who want more information. Web Pages Road Junky, the BBC and CNN also offer a great insight of the inner conflict with different articles.
As a closing paragraph, remember this advice when you are traveling to any country in the world. Be informed first about the social and political situation of the country. You can check on the internet or ask your travel agent so you can have a safe and wonderful vacation.