Yet bizarrely, perhaps, a new study by the government of President Álvaro Uribe claims that there may be just 125 hostages still being held for ransom, be that pecuniary or political.Officials from Fondelibertad, the government's anti-kidnap agency, have combed through the cases of the 3,307 kidnaps since 1996 that are officially still unresolved.
The government sees a prisoner swap as an invitation to further kidnaps, and as strengthening the FARC while granting it political recognition it does not deserve.
In the surrounding province, what has increased, says Mr Sain, is kidnaps, mafia-style killings (still only a handful), and "media coverage that has nothing to do with the reality of the crime situation".
Likewise when a childless woman kidnaps an infant from a grocery shop, she is lured into klepto-motherhood by the baby's beguiling pink outfit, only to discover the squalling bundle is a boy: "'Hypocrite!' I said to him.
A feeling that the world has become less safe after the terror attacks of September 2001, as well as a flurry of kidnaps around the world, has fuelled demand, insurers say.
The kidnaps were not reported to the police; the latter soon heard of them, but said nothing could be done, since the victims did not come forward.
Mexico was second with 10%, and Pakistan third with 7%, reckons NYA International, a London-based firm that gathers intelligence on crime.This year's tally of kidnaps is expected to be higher in Nigeria than in 2012 and 2011, when 500 and 475 were recorded respectively, says a security expert.
Some two dozen of the hostages were quickly released.See article: More kidnaps from Colombia's ELNNine survivors were rescued and one body recovered after a light plane crashed into the Florida straits in what appeared to be a bid by Cubans to flee to the United States.
Are they now involved in kidnaps and drug-trafficking outside their own country?
Shoppers and local residents held a demonstration this month at a mall in the south of Mexico City, demanding tighter security after a rash of assaults and kidnaps in the car park.
Many families are terrified of reporting cases to a notoriously corrupt police force some of whose officers have been found to be involved in kidnaps themselves.
