WEEKLY SITUATION REPORT ON INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM 10 MAY 1978 - 1978/05/10

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Argentina Declassification Project - The "Dirty War" (1976-83)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06627656
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: April 3, 2019
• Document Release Date: April 12, 2019
• Publication Date: May 10, 1978

Approved for Release: 2018/10/01 C06627656
Weekly Situation Report
on
International Terrorism
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10 May 1978
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U.S. Citizen Rescued from Kidnapers in Colombia
Gregory Striver, a U.S. citizen who was kidnaped on 15
March, was rescued on 29 April by Colombian army troops in
the northeastern city of Santa Marta, Colombia. Striver was
described by the authorities as being a 29-year-old jeweler
from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Army spokesmen said that they
discovered the kidnaping after one of the kidnapers was in
an auto accident on 28 April and could not produce proper
identification papers. After questioning, he disclosed his
link to the band and the location of the hideout.
. During interviews, Striver said that he arrived in
Colombia during early March and then went to Cartagena,
where he met a Spanish woman who suggested they visit Santa
Marta. With the connivance of the woman and a taxi driver,
the kidnapers took Striver from a taxi on 15 March in Santa
Marta to a farmhouse where they chained him arm-to-leg to a
bed for the next 45 days while trying to arrange a ransom
for his release. Striver said that at first he was slapped
around and threatened with death. He was in good condition
when rescued. First ransom demands were for approximately
U.S. $250,000 but they were later reduced to U.S. $50,000.
The ransom was initially to have been paid in Mexico City
but was later changed to Bogota, Colombia.
According to Colombian press accounts, five foreigners
and two Colombians were arrested for the kidnaping. The
true identities of the culprits have not been established
because they were carrying false identity papers; however,
Colombian officials believe that some of them may be members
of the People's Revolutionary Army (ERP) Argentine terrorist
group who had come to Colombia to conduct a joint fund-
raising operation with members of the Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC) terrorist group. This has not yet
been confirmed, however. The apparent involvement of the
FARC and the Argentine ERP in such a chance kidnaping in
Colombia seems questionable. Authorities have withheld from
the press the possible connections of the culprits to the
FARC in order to conduct further investigations and exploit
leads in the case.
The Colombian military is holding the kidnapers in
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Bogota and will try them in a military court unless the case
is transferred to civil jurisdiction. Authorities are still
searching for more suspects in the case.
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Approved for Release: 2018/10/01 C06627656