{"id":329914,"date":"2017-06-20T06:45:11","date_gmt":"2017-06-20T06:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=329914"},"modified":"2017-06-20T06:45:11","modified_gmt":"2017-06-20T06:45:11","slug":"two-dutch-journalists-kidnapped","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/06\/two-dutch-journalists-kidnapped\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Dutch journalists kidnapped"},"content":{"rendered":"
Two Dutch journalists have been abducted in Colombia in an area near the Venezuelan border.<\/p>\n
Derk Bolt and Eugenio Follender went missing at the weekend in Catatumbo, a region where several armed groups operate, including the left-wing ELN.<\/p>\n
They were searching for the mother of a Colombian child adopted in the Netherlands a few years ago.<\/p>\n
The Colombian authorities tweeted a demand “for the immediate release of the two men.”<\/p>\n
Last year the ELN rebel group kidnapped a Spanish journalist and several Colombians in the same area. All were later released.<\/p>\n
The Colombian army says it has sent specialist forces to the region to search for the Dutchmen.<\/p>\n
They work for the Dutch TV programme Spoorloos, which traces lost relatives. Derk Bolt is a presenter and Eugenio Follender a cameraman.<\/p>\n
The ELN is the second largest left-wing guerrilla group in Colombia, behind the Farc.<\/p>\n
The Farc signed a peace deal with the government last November and are already disarming and preparing to enter civilian life. The ELN only started peace talks in February this year.<\/p>\n
The group has insisted on a bilateral ceasefire but the government says this would be conditional on the ELN ending kidnapping – something that has not yet happened.<\/p>\n
During the negotiations there have been military operations against that insurgent group as well as attacks against security forces by the ELN.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Two Dutch journalists have been abducted in Colombia in an area near the Venezuelan border. Derk Bolt and Eugenio Follender went missing at the weekend in Catatumbo, a region where several armed groups operate, including the left-wing ELN. They were searching for the mother of a Colombian child adopted in the Netherlands a few years […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[8390,8391],"yoast_head":"\n