Talking About Colombia

It’s Thanksgiving in the U.S. today.

I am thinking about Susy Abitbol, the wife of a Colombian colonel who has been kidnapped for thirteen years, and their daughter, Viviana. Colonel Édgar Yesid Duarte was kidnapped while riding a taxi from Doncello to Florencia. Viviana was two years old when the kidnapping occurred. She is now 15.

“We live a life of suspense, by stages. We do not live a normal life. The children of the kidnapped mature very fast. I try for her not to hold bitterness in her heart. I try for her to have reasons and hopes to live,” the mother told Semana magazine.

The wife remembers her husband’s Christmas spirit.

The latest proof of life she received was last June.

She would want to tell her husband: “Never cease dreaming, never lose hope, you will be free. There waits for you a long life. All this time that you have been chained, all that inferno, with God’s help, you shall be compensated.”

I have not read of any official study done about this, but mere observation tells me that after enduring long kidnappings, many couples divorce. The strain of rebuilding lives, financial difficulties, the emotional rocks one carries, a partner unable to understand what the other is going through and vice-versa.

It hardly seems fair.

Today, specially today, I would like to send my good energy to Susy and Viviana Abitbol.