Colombia rebels free American

[Villa in Cali]

This article below is to remind those of you traveling to Colombia to always be aware of your surroundings and stay in the cities.  Colombia is very dangerous but you will keep your odds of finding trouble way down if you don't travel outside the major cities.

Pacino

Sunday December 9 1:26 PM ET
Colombia Rebels Free American

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - Leftist guerrillas have freed an American backpacker kidnapped in Colombia last month, officials said Sunday.

Fighters from the National Liberation Army released the hostage - identified as Glenn Hereggestard of California - on Friday to the Red Cross in Antioquia province, a foreign diplomat told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The diplomat said it wasn't clear where the rebels abducted Hereggestard or how long he had been held.

A U.S. Embassy official in the capital, Bogota, confirmed that an American abducted by the ELN had been released but said he couldn't identify the hostage.

The official said the hostage required no hospital treatment following his release. It wasn't immediately clear if ransom had been paid.

Leftist guerrillas are responsible for most of the approximately 3,000 people kidnapped annually in this South American nation.

The rebels kidnap for politics and ransom to fund their insurgencies, frequently capturing their victims in roadblocks in a method known as ``miracle fishing.''

The 37-year internal conflict, pitting two guerrilla groups against government troops and a right-wing paramilitary army, kills an estimated 3,500 people every year, mostly unarmed civilians.

The U.S. State Department has placed all three outlaw armies on its list of worldwide terrorist organizations.

[Throw]

... in response to Colombia rebels free American, posted by Villa in Cali on Dec 9, 2001

Pacino,  My computer crashed and I lost Andres email again.  That Calidude69 never goes through...Jim!

[Cali vet]

... in response to Colombia rebels free American, posted by Villa in Cali on Dec 9, 2001

Dig it! he's a judo instructor and self described "hardcore martial artist". Guess he just couldn't chop them AKs.

[JunFanTX]

... in response to Re: Colombia rebels free American, posted by Cali vet on Dec 10, 2001

I read about this guy...he was 57 years old, and they let him go because the FARC was tired of changing his Depends Undergarments for him twice a day and he kept having to get up five times per night to pee waking everybody up....

...they also got tired of him slowing them up in the jungles saying "I've fallen and I can't get up".

Dig it,
Mike

[Cali vet]

... in response to What a puss!, posted by JunFanTX on Dec 10, 2001

You got it all screwed up as usual culicagado the guy is twenty nine and was kidnapped by the ELN!

[Pete E]

... in response to Colombia rebels free American, posted by Villa in Cali on Dec 9, 2001

Pacino,
My first trip to Cali a Colombian to us to"El Paraiso"(I believe that was the name) an old colonial mansion.He assured us it was safe to go there,I'm not so sure but we went.Coming back,what do we see walking along the road but a group of backpackers.Backpacking in Colombia?They must have been Americans or Europeans,no Colombian is that stupid.These people,and the guy that was recently released,remind me of a term a co worker used to use"too stupid to live"

Pete

[Hamlet]

... in response to Backpacking in Colombia??How f-----g stu..., posted by Pete E on Dec 10, 2001

Pete,

My, you are judgmental today.  I suppose some would say that if a man went to Colombia for any reason - i.e. to find a wife - and got kidnapped he is "too stupid to live."

Hamlet

[Pete E]

... in response to Pete, come now, posted by Hamlet on Dec 10, 2001

Hamlet,
Some people might say that about a guy who goes to Colombia to find a wife,but people with experience know its not too dangerous if you are smart and play it safe as to where you go and when.But if you want to multiply your chances of having a problem about a 100 times do something really stupid like backpacking in the rural areas of Colombia.Other not so smart things are driving between cities,especially at night or going to the worst areas of a city,especially at night.
Funny you should mention this now,I am leaving for Colombia tommorrow and I was talking to a client 5 miniutes ago who said"take a bullet proof vest."
There is some risk anywhere in Colombia,but you can turn it in to a huge risk by doing something really dumb.
Sometimes I just can't resist a phrase that zooms through my mind.Barbara,a civil engineer I used to work with was always saying someone was "too stupid to live".I thought she was being harsh but in the case of the backpackers I think it fits.

Pete

[Colonialjd]

... in response to Backpacking in Colombia??How f-----g stu..., posted by Pete E on Dec 10, 2001

Nothing is all bad, and that includes drug pedaling narco terror groups like the FARC.  Some of the other Andean Countries (Peru,Ecuador,Bolivia) form the heart of the Gringo Trail through South America.  Ground Zero for this trail is in Cuzco, Peru.  Most of the people who traverse the Gringo Trail are Europeans who refer to themselves as "Travelers".  It will cause them great upset if you refer to them as as a tourist.  

They take advantage of generous, government mandated social programs to take long vacations in inexpensive third world places.  

Now European style hygene (weekly bathing) is bad enough in Northern Europe, but can be truely alienating in a tropical climate. On top of that they look worse than they smell.  They like to "go native" by accesorizing their already crappy attire with the wool caps, sweaters, & other assorted curios of South American Indians.  

Which gets us back to Colombia, which is thankfully free of these Euro-Vermin thanks to the hard work of the FARC and their network of cutthroats and kidnappers.  Like I said, nothing is all bad.

Colonial  

[Raptor]

... in response to Re: Backpacking in Colombia??How f-----g..., posted by Colonialjd on Dec 10, 2001

great post!

[Michael B]

... in response to Backpacking in Colombia??How f-----g stu..., posted by Pete E on Dec 10, 2001

Six or eight months ago there was a news story about a terrible tradgedy. A group of grade school kids and their teachers were on a 'nature hike' and got caught in the cross fire of an Army vs FARC skirmish and several of the kids and a couple of the teachers were killed. They found two dead kids under one of the teachers. She had layed over them trying to protect them.

[Gregory]

... in response to Re: Backpacking in Colombia??How f-----g..., posted by Michael B on Dec 10, 2001

I believe the fellow is known as the striking viking. Was travelling by motorcycle from USA to points south. Got kidnapped outside of Medellin. Lots of talk about him on the lonely planet travel foum southamerica forum. He has posted there today. Sounds like he was some kind of adveturist/sex tourist.

[Pete E]

... in response to Re: Re: Backpacking in Colombia??How f--..., posted by Gregory on Dec 10, 2001

Driving between cities is dangerous,as this guy found out(if he was just driving down the road when caught.I was envisioning groups heading out in to the woods for camping out.That looked like what the people I saw were up to.
Too bad you can't just safely drive through Colombia.A friend of mine had a sister who was doing some sort of volunteer work in Ecuador.She rode a motorcycle to the states from Ecuador with a teenage Ecuadoran kid on the back.I think this was in the 70's.

Pete