Colombia: CBC TV: 09-28-99 THE NATIONAL MAGAZINE (transcript)

[Colombian Labor Monitor]

__________________________
CBC TV [Canada]

Tuesday, 28 September 1999

THE NATIONAL MAGAZINE

GUEST:
JOAN LEISHMAN, Reporter;
GINAEMBERLEY, Kidnapping victim;
Dr. HAL KLEPAK, Royal MilitaryCollege;
MARIA JIMENA DUZAN, Journalist;
DAVID KILGOUR, Secretary of State for Latin America

ANCHOR: BRIAN STEWART

BRIAN STEWART: Tonight: stolen lives. Hundreds of people kidnapped in
South America. Including Canadians. Who's behind it? We'll get answers
from Colombia's president in an exclusive interview.

STEWART: And back from the dead.

UNIDENTIFIED: You just discover Wow

This is wonderful. Why was I afraid of this to begin with?

STEWART: "Alderman's Eye" on "Life After Death".

ANNOUNCER: The Magazine, with Brian Stewart.

STEWART: Good evening. Tonight we want to focus on a rising phenomenon in
international crime -- and on a country nearly paralyzed by it. The crime
is kidnapping. The country: Colombia. It's a country so troubled its own
president, a former kidnap victim, admits he's got the worst job in the
world. We'll talk to president Andres Pastrana in a moment. But first
eight, Canadians remain missing tonight. They are among the latest people
to be kidnapped in South America. With a look at who and what may be behind
it, here's the Magazine's Joan Leishman.

JOAN LEISHMAN: Gina Emberley is safe now. Enjoying the tranquillity of
life in Peterborough, Ontario. But she's still haunted by the terrible
events that began almost five years ago.

GINA EMBERLEY / KIDNAPPING VICTIM: We were in captivity 307 days. When I
heard about they took the Canadians it brings back a lot of memories.

LEISHMAN: Gina was born in Colombia. She married a Canadian engineer who
was working there.

EMBERLEY: This is my husband John. We were six months married when we
were kidnapped. We spent our first wedding anniversary in captivity.

LEISHMAN: They were marched through the jungle for 10 long months.
Captives of FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the
country's largest guerrilla organization. Then a ransom was paid and they
were finally released.

EMBERLEY: Sometimes I have bad dreams still. You know the kidnapped is
something that you will never get rid of it. You have scars for life.

LEISHMAN: The latest Canadian hostages were captured just over two weeks
ago in the Ecuadorian jungle. Seven are oil workers from Edmonton. And
Sabine Roblain from Montreal is a community radio volunteer. The eight
Canadians an American and three Spanish citizens were pulled over on a remote
road near the town of Paz y Bien. Not far from the Colombian border. And
taken away by armed men and women wearing combat fatigues. One of the
Spanish hostages was released over the weekend. He said all of the
Canadians are alive and well. And that they're still in Ecuador. Hoping
the hostages may at least have a small radio, Sabine Roblain's parents
sent a message of support that's being broadcasting deep into the jungle.

LEISHMAN: Whether the rest of the hostages make it out alive depends
mostly on one critical question and that is: who took them? In this
rugged region so close to the chaos of Colombia, there are all too
many suspects. One theory has to do with the oil and gas industry. The
riches foreign companies siphon off from this part of the world are
enormous. But those who actually live here see few of the profits. Some
speculate this may be a case of local criminals finding their own way of
getting a cut; by trading foreign hostages for ransom. Dr. Hal Klepak is
with the Royal Ontario Military College of Canada and specializes
in the Andean region.

Dr. HAL KLEPAK / ROYAL MILITARY COLLEGE: It really is a trickle down
effect. That is a very small percentage of the population actually sees
the advantages that have been brought in by oil exploration, whereas a
huge number of them see the dislocation involved.

LEISHMAN: But what's just as likely is that it's FARC. The same group
that held Gina Emberley. FARC is Latin America's oldest guerrilla group.
It has as many as 20 thousand soldiers and now controls 40 percent of
Colombia. The leftist insurgency financed their war against the
government partly through the cocaine trade, partly through kidnappings.
Right now it's thought to be holding as many as 300 hostages. However
FARC is denying it has the Canadians.

LEISHMAN: In Colombia the Canadian hostage taking has barely made the
news in a country where kidnapping has burgeoned into a billion dollar
industry. Last year two thousand six hundred kidnappings were reported.
Almost all were Colombians. And this year things are even worse. Although
there have been some dramatic rescues. All of this is happening just as
FARC and the government get ready to start peace talks again. In what
journalist Maria Jimena Duzan calls a brutal power play.

MARIA JIMENA DUZAN / JOURNALIST: That happens always when there is a
peace process coming. That the two parts within the conflict want to
straighten out their positions. And the guerrilla likely has shown the
power in order to gain strength knowing that we are heading into the
peace process.

LEISHMAN: President Andres Pastrana is under enormous pressure to make
peace talks work. He was elected last year promising to bring peace but
instead the madness has spiraled even further. Now Pastrana is confronting
angry protesters on the streets. Many don't drive their cars out of the
city any more. Or even let their kids go on school field trips. No one is
safe. Anyone can be kidnapped anywhere.

LEISHMAN: As Colombia wrestles to find any prospects for peace David
Kilgour, Secretary of State for Latin America, is in Colombia searching
for some word about the Canadians. He says the best hope is that they
have been taken by FARC.

DAVID KILGOUR / SECRETARY OF STATE FOR LATIN AMERICA: And it's not a
question of doing --making a political statement. It's simply cold, hard
American dollars is what they want. And so that in a
very real sense should reassure the families, 12 families that if it is
FARC that their chances of getting them out are excellent. We have a
thousand percent batting average in getting Canadians released from FARC
up to now.

EMBERLEY: Never give up, keep hoping, pray a lot. We took it day by day.
And we thanked God just to survive each day.

LEISHMAN: It could be weeks, even months before anything is resolved. But
until it's over, the parents of Sabine Roblain will continue sending this
message of hope to their daughter. (Message in French) For the Magazine,
I'm Joan Leishman.

STEWART: Now don't go away. When we come back, we'll talk to the man
who's trying to put an end to the kidnappings. The President of Colombia
Andres Pastrana.

Copyright 1999 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
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