Air Passengers Latest Victims of Colombia Unrest

This week’s hijacking of a Colombian airliner brings Latin America’s longest civil war even closer to the country’s civilians, analysts said Wednesday.

Air travel has become popular here as a way to avoid rebel roadblocks, at which 120 people have been kidnapped for ransom in the last six months. Abductions by guerrillas or criminals are a constant threat in Colombia; 2,216 kidnappings were reported last year.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the hijacking or made demands for the passengers’ release. The government, however, has said it believes the National Liberation Army--this country’s second-largest rebel group--diverted the domestic flight to a clandestine airfield and hustled its passengers down a nearby river. Eight captives, including five elderly people and an infant, have been freed.

If the rebels are responsible, the big question now is whether the hijacking is an isolated incident aimed at gaining the government’s attention as it approaches peace talks with the 5,000-strong guerrilla group, or whether it is the debut of a new terrorist tactic.

“It hasn’t been proven yet that air transportation is going to become a military objective [and] that from now on [air carriers] will be attacked systematically by Colombia’s armed groups,” said Alfredo Rangel, a political analyst at Los Andes University in Bogota.

While security is tight at airports in major cities, it is perfunctory at best in smaller towns such as Bucaramanga, where the Avianca flight originated.

On Monday, five well-dressed men carrying briefcases boarded the flight bound for Bogota. Shortly after takeoff, witnesses said, the men pulled ski masks over their heads and, waving pistols, took positions around the cabin.

The plane--carrying 41 passengers and crew in addition to the hijackers--was forced to land near the town of Simiti, near the Magdalena River, and passengers were put on rafts. Police who later found the abandoned Fokker 50 turboprop also discovered, on an island in the river, a temporary camp with enough food for 40 people for about three weeks.

The elderly passengers and the infant were separated from the rest Tuesday morning, taken to a remote spot and told to wait for the Red Cross, said Luis Florez, 72, one of those released. Two more hostages, both females, were freed Wednesday evening. Analysts speculated that the first group was freed as part of the rebels’ attempt to keep a promise made last year to stop abducting children and the elderly.

Nevertheless, the mass kidnapping is not likely to bolster the rebels’ image with the civilian organizations that have promoted a peaceful settlement with the guerrilla group.

“These events could make Colombians recover their fear of the war and make them finally react to emphatically repudiate these types of actions,” political analyst Ernesto Borda said.