The NGO País Libre said 177 kidnappings were reported during the first semester of 2011. This is a 35 percent increase in kidnappings from the same time in 2010.
Of the 177 reported kidnappings, 116 were for extortion. Common delinquents are responsible for an estimated 100 of all kidnappings.
The most kidnappings happened in the department of Vichada with 23 reported cases, then Valle with 20 cases, Nariño with 18 cases, Antioquia with 14 cases, and Caquetá with 11 cases. Many of these kidnappings happened in rural areas where multinationals are carrying out major engineering projects.
In Bogotá, there were seven reported kidnappings, two more than the same time last year.
Apart from that, the FARC still holds 154 people hostage of which there has been no recent proof of life. The ELN also kidnapped 98 people whose families never heard from them again.
Former President Uribe has been critical that the Santos government is allowing security to slip again. There were 282 kidnappings in the entire 2010, and 213 in the entire 2009.
Look here at a graph of yearly kidnappings statistics in Colombia from 1980 to 2010.
Seventy percent of world-wide kidnappings happen in Latin America, not only in Colombia but also in Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, and Brazil
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