Amid uptick in kidnappings, Colombian family receives ‘biggest gift of all’
Al Jazeera
Colombia has experienced a surge in kidnappings in 2023, but negotiations with armed groups might herald a breakthrough.
Chia, Colombia – Decnis Diaz was at home in Chia, Colombia, on November 18 when she received a call from her siblings: Her beloved younger brother, Jhon Jairo Diaz, had been kidnapped.
A 34-year-old store manager, Jhon Jairo was ending his shift at a meat market in Cucuta, a border town near Venezuela, when four masked men held him at gunpoint and dragged him inside a black sedan. Security cameras captured the vehicle speeding away.
“I couldn’t believe it. It always seemed to me that kidnappings were a terrible crime, but I never thought that our family would be a victim of it,” said Diaz.
Jhon Jairo was the latest victim in an unexpected crime trend: The number of kidnappings has shot up recently in Colombia.
Between January and October, a total of 287 people were abducted, a 73-percent increase over the same period the previous year, according to the Defence Ministry.
