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Swedish citizen kidnapped in La Guajira

By Manuel Rueda, Editorial Director

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Colombian police have announced that a woman with dual Colombian and Swedish citizenship was kidnapped by armed men in Colombia´s northern La Guajira department last Saturday. 

Manuela Frankausser del Cuello was vacationing at her farm near Palomino, a town which lies between the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains, the Caribbean Sea, and the Guajira desert.

Frankausser´s husband told police that armed men arrived at the farm, tied her up, and took her away. It is still not known who kidnapped the 32 year old woman or whether they belong to a rebel group or what motivated them to commit the crime.

Last year, Colombian police reported 138 kidnappings across the country.  The number of these crimes has gone down significantly since 2003, when Colombian authorities reported 2,122 kidnappings.  

Kidnappers sometimes belong to rebel groups like the FARC, but kidnapping is also committed by members of paramilitary groups and criminal gangs.

In most cases, kidnappers are looking for money, so they release their victims after hefty ransom payments have been made.

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The selection of a Brazilian/Canadian company to manage the Doña Juana landfill turned into a fight on Tuesday.

At the moment the contract was awarded, a lawyer from a competing firm shouted that the process was an "injustice," and that judges would have the last word on who managed the landfill.

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Buena Vista singer in Bogotá

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Fans of Cuban musicians the Buena Vista Social Club will be excited to hear that one of their most popular members, Omara Portuondo, will be giving a concert in Bogotá on October 1st.

"Feeling's Girlfriend" and "The Voice of Cuba" are just two of the nicknames given to the singer, who has been performing for over fifty years.