VOA常速英语2008年-Thousands Kidnapped in Colombia in Last Decade

By Zulima Palacio
Colombia
06 February 2008
 

Tens of thousands of Colombians marched on Monday -- at home and abroad -- to demand that the country's largest rebel group stop kidnapping people and release those it is holding. The protesters denounced FARC's [Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia] use of violence and kidnapping in its bid to overthrow¹ the Colombian government. The Marxist group is holding hundreds of hostages, including more than 40 high-profile captives. Producer Zulima Palacio traveled recently to Colombia to examine the kidnapping problem. Mil Arcega narrates² her story.

Announcer: Ya las lineas estan todas copadas ("The lines are all taken now.")

For the past 14 years, every Saturday night, this unique radio show has been on the air. "Las Voces del Secuestro," or "Voices of Kidnapping," is directed at kidnap victims in Colombia. Maria Isabel Campos is a program coordinator³.

Campos explained the program format⁴. "Beginning at 12 midnight, the family members of all the people in captivity⁵ call our phone lines."

For six hours -- until early Sunday morning -- the phone lines never stop blinking. Many family members simply show up at Caracol radio studios in Bogota. They want to send messages of hope or family news to loved ones in captivity.

One boy wants to reach out to his uncle. He would like for his uncle to know, "That I love him very much and wish to recover the lost time with him," he said.

Olga is the mother of Alberto Plazas⁶ Adame. Kidnappers⁷ abducted⁸ him six years ago and she has not heard from him in the last five. She says she knows he is still alive. "I know it in my mother's heart. I know he will come back. I can hear him. I know we will meet again and we are waiting for him."

Another call comes from New York. It is Melanie Betancourt, the daughter of French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt. The FARC kidnapped her in 2002 as she campaigned for the Colombian presidency⁹.

Betancourt appeals to her mother, "Mom, we all need you here. 2008 is going to be the one for your freedom. Hold on there. I do not let you go Mom, so please hold on to your life. I love you. Take care of you..."

For nearly four decades, guerrillas and terrorist groups, paramilitary forces and common criminals in Colombia have kidnapped thousands of people. .

"The kidnapping in Colombia means nearly 23,000 victims during the last 11 years and more than 3,000 people in captivity today. It also means about 300 children kidnapped and, above all, this means a huge damage to the families and the society," says Olga Lucia Gomez, who is the executive director of the private group Free Country Foundation.

Gomez says there are many reasons why kidnapping is such a problem in Colombia. The simplest is that the kidnappers get away with it. Some do it for money. Others for political reasons.

But she says in nearly half the cases, the kidnappers make no demands at all -- the victims are likely murdered. "Out of the 3,000 hostages today, 770 are held by the FARC according to officials records at the Liberty Fund. The numbers are unstable¹⁰. We don't know the authors in nearly 1,200 cases." Colombian officials believe another terrorist group, ELN, and common criminals are behind other kidnappings.

Harlem Andres Enao is the director of Liberty Fund, a government organization that gathers statistics and information about kidnappings in Colombia. "According to our data base, since 1996 to date, 1,307 people died in captivity, 13,808 citizens were freed and 4,487 were rescued [by the authorities]," Enao said.

 

Last month, FARC freed two Colombian politicians [Clara Rojas and Consuelo Gonzalez] after holding them for years. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez mediated¹¹ the release. He also has offered to help gain freedom for other FARC captives, despite strains in relations with Colombia. Mr. Chavez says FARC rebels are not terrorists, but have political goals that need to be respected.

 

The two newly released kidnap victims brought news of other hostages, including a letter from Colonel Luis Mendieta, kidnapped by FARC nine years ago. Mendieta's wife, Maria Teresa, read her husband's letter in public. She said, "My husband said in his letters that neither the humiliation¹² of kidnapping or the chains that kept him tied up hurt him as much as the evilness of bad men and the indifference¹³ of the good man."

 

Many Colombians cast indifference aside this week. They not only marched in Bogota, demanding an end to the epidemic¹⁴ that plagues their nation, but also in Venezuela, Europe, Japan and the United States The idea started simply about a month ago on the social networking web site "Facebook."

1 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

2 narrates   

v.故事( narrate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• It narrates the unconstitutional acts of James II. 它历数了詹姆斯二世的违法行为。 来自辞典例句
• Chapter three narrates the economy activity which Jew return the Occident. 第三章讲述了犹太人重返西欧后的经济活动。 来自互联网

3 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

4 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。

5 captivity   

n.囚禁；被俘；束缚

参考例句：

• A zoo is a place where live animals are kept in captivity for the public to see.动物园是圈养动物以供公众观看的场所。
• He was held in captivity for three years.他被囚禁叁年。

6 plazas   

n.（尤指西班牙语城镇的）露天广场( plaza的名词复数 )；购物中心

参考例句：

• At focal points, there are seating plazas as rest points for users. 在主要主景点上，有空间较大的广场提供休息的地方。 来自互联网
• Such products are suitable for lighting and decoration of plazas, courtyards, parks, residential district and roadside. 本产品适合于广场、庭院，公园、小区草坪和道路的装饰和照明。 来自互联网

7 kidnappers   

n.拐子，绑匪( kidnapper的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They were freed yesterday by their kidnappers unharmed. 他们昨天被绑架者释放了，没有受到伤害。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The kidnappers had threatened to behead all four unless their jailed comrades were released. 帮匪们曾经威胁说如果印度方面不释放他们的同伙，他们就要将这四名人质全部斩首。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

9 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

10 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

11 mediated   

调停，调解，斡旋( mediate的过去式和过去分词 )； 居间促成； 影响…的发生； 使…可能发生

参考例句：

• He mediated in the quarrel between the two boys. 他调解两个孩子之间的争吵。
• The government mediated between the workers and the employers. 政府在工人与雇主间搞调和。

12 humiliation   

n.羞辱

参考例句：

• He suffered the humiliation of being forced to ask for his cards.他蒙受了被迫要求辞职的羞辱。
• He will wish to revenge his humiliation in last Season's Final.他会为在上个季度的决赛中所受的耻辱而报复的。

13 indifference   

n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎

参考例句：

• I was disappointed by his indifference more than somewhat.他的漠不关心使我很失望。
• He feigned indifference to criticism of his work.他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。

14 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。