Leftist rebels kidnapped five gold prospectors doing exploratory drilling for a Canadian company — a Canadian, two Peruvians and two Colombians — before dawn Friday in a northern province, officials said.
Toronto-based Braeval Mining Corp. said the five — three company employees and two consultants — were working at its Snow Mine gold and silver project. It did not further identify them.
The men were seized about 5 a.m. by about two dozen rebels of the leftist National Liberation Army, Colombia's second-largest insurgency, in a rural area of the Bolivar state municipality of Norosi, said armed forces commander Gen. Alejandro Navas.
The rebel band, known by its Spanish-language initials ELN, is far smaller — with an estimated 1,500 fighters — than the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which is currently engaged in peace talks in Cuba with the Columbian government.
The ELN has been seeking peace talks though without success. Unlike the FARC, it has not renounced ransom kidnappings.
Colombia's president, Juan Manuel Santos, is anxious to try to end a half century of civil conflict that economists say costs the country hundreds of millions of dollars a year in lost economic opportunity, especially in the mining sector. Miners in Colombia have traditionally paid tributes, or "war taxes," to rebels and other illegal armed groups in exchange for being allowed to exploit precious metals.
Braeval Mining said in a news release that it was fully cooperating with Colombian authorities in seeking to obtain the men's safe release.
No one answered the phone at company headquarters and company executives did not return phone calls or email queries.
The company, which went public in December, says on its website that it has options to acquire an interest in four adjacent mineral titles in the Snow Mine project, where it is looking for gold, silver and copper. It says it also holds or has applied for interests in Mexico, Peru, Honduras and Nicaragua.
The area, in the San Lucas mountains, is a traditional ELN stronghold.
The armed forces said it had put planes in the air to try to find them.
A spokeswoman for Canada's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was aware of the reported kidnapping of a Canadian in Colombia but provided no information on his identity.
The two Peruvians were identified as Javier Leandro Ochoa and Jose Antonio Mamani by Peru's consul in Colombia, Jorge Davila. It was not immediately clear if they were Braeval employees.
The chief of Colombia's anti-kidnapping police, Humberto Guatibonza, said he was aware of other foreigners kidnap victims in Colombia, a Dominican and a Guatemalan. He said both were being held by common criminals as opposed to illegal armed groups.
Colombia's vice president, Angelino Garzon, appealed to the ELN to immediately free the five newly kidnapped men without condition.
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