Colombia rebels free American

[Pacino]

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.

Pacino, thanks for the heads-up article. Another way kidnappings occur is by way of taxi. It's rare, but it does happen. 1. Don't get in a taxi when there is a "passenger" in it. If a taxista stops to pick up another person tell him no and get out if he insists upon picking someone else up. 2. Later at night, preferably call for a taxi and make sure someone (i.e. a bouncer or manager of a bar, a security guard, or friend) writes down the plate number and cab company. As I recall, only taxis have white plates. All other vehicles have yellow plates. Check the plate color of the taxi. 3. Late at night, after seeing your girlfriend off in a taxi, tell her to call you after she arrives back home. (This will impress her a lot, too) If she hasn't called you back after a reasonable period of time, call her number. Late at night, she might forget to call so you'll have to. Occasionally, I had to call. I didn't mind. 4. Travel between major cities by plane. Do NOT take an intercity bus. Do NOT travel too far outside the city - especially at night. Don't be paronoid, but stay alert. Use your street smarts. Kev

For those of you who are newbies. Remember this.

If at all possible DO NOT try and be a gentlemen and accompany your novia home at night in a taxi. Have the driver drop you off first. Most of the girls we go out with down there live in very bad neighborhoods and it is much more dangerous for you to accompany her to her home.

If she asked you to tell you absolutely can not do it and explain to her why it's more dangerous with you in the car. If she does not understand find a new novia.

I have no sympathy for these backpacker squirrel loving, tree loving, carefree, gypsy gringos and euros who backpack on foot in Colombia. I've seen them and I hear about them. If some nature, tree loving dude wants to trek it thru Colombia on foot then what happens to him is his problem and he must deal with it. Most of these drifter types who are captured by the Farc or ELN are just that- backpackers walking in the backwoods of Choco or bathing in the polluted Caucu Rio in Antioquia.

[HonkyTonk]

Travelling Man..forget not the ground hugging bird seekers who have met God before their time