ELN guerilla kidnaps a Colombian Army NCO

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The third corporal of the Colombian Army Nubia Alejandra López disappeared on July 7. The ELN guerrillas reported that they have it in their possession. (Credit: Courtesy).

(CNN Spanish) - The National Liberation Army (ELN) reported this Thursday that it has in its possession the third corporal of the Colombian Army Nubia Alejandra López. The military disappeared on the night of Sunday, June 7, after leaving the home of a friend in the municipality of Saravena, Arauca, border territory between Colombia and Venezuela.

"Nubian Army NCO Alejandra López Correa is temporarily deprived of liberty by units of the Eastern War Front. She will receive the treatment that revolutionary humanism demands and we will guarantee her physical integrity, ”the guerrilla group said in a statement.

The ELN text added that "the deprivation of liberty responds to the intelligence, registration and control work in daily security operations carried out by units of our force, at urban and rural levels."

The mother of the military officer, Olga Cecilia Correa, pleads for her prompt release. “Until last night we realized that the ELN had it. In the midst of everything, we feel calm knowing that she is alive. They say they will respect her life and integrity, "said Correa.

According to some witnesses, three men approached on a motorcycle when Nubia was walking back home, intercepted her and took her away. “She has no enemies, we have never received threats, we do not think that this could happen to her. They love her a lot in her town, ”Correa told CNN.

The mother of the young woman also denounces that she was swindled in a desperate attempt to see her daughter again. She says that on June 9 she agreed to deliver a sum of money as required in a phone call. “We were swindled on behalf of the ELN and I paid a certain amount of money in the hope that it would be returned to us. It is the mother's despair to love my daughter. We gave the money and, since we didn't know who had it, we gave it. My son went to the place where our daughter was going to deliver us, supposedly in Arauquita, we paid and the hours passed, and there we did not realize that it was not true. ”

The Arauca Unified Action Group for Personal Liberty, a special Police command, along with other units, says it is investigating this extortion complaint.

The Colombian Army Commander General, Eduardo Enrique Zapateiro, rejected the kidnapping of López Correa. “This reprehensible fact violates human rights and constitutes a serious infringement of international humanitarian law. A deplorable attack against a military woman who was enjoying her vacation shift, ”Zapateiro said in a video posted on Twitter.

# Declaration
on the kidnapping of our third corporal Nubia Alejandra López. # LibérenlaYa pic.twitter.com/RUuF3EGaTf

- MG. Eduardo Enrique Zapateiro Altamiranda (@COMANDANTE_EJC) June 12, 2020

The 23-year-old is the youngest of four brothers. She entered the Army in 2018 and is a graphic design student. Her mother says that her dream is to be an officer. “A few days ago she told me that she was going to do a master's degree. In addition to her position as a designer, she is a teacher and wanted to do her master's degree to continue in the Army, ”said her mother while waiting for her daughter's soon return home.

The news from Nubia López is released a few days after the pronouncement of the Colombian High Commissioner for Peace, Miguel Ceballos, who denounced the increase in kidnappings in the country by the ELN guerrillas. Ceballos affirmed that these acts "are not a sign of the will for peace." According to the government, the armed group has at least 19 hostages.

Army ELN Military Kidnapping