There is a bank robbery turned hostage crisis in Venezuela unfolding on Colombia’s Caracol Radio. The host has a phone connection open with the bank robbers, who claim they want to cooperate.
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A robber, Carlos, is on with the host. The host is trying to convince him to release the hostages but he won’t do it because he knows the police will kill them if they don’t have a shield.
They’re even letting one of the hostages talk.
* * *
Vanessa, a bank employee, is pleading to avoid a confrontation in the bank. They have children and a pregnant woman in the bank. Food availability is minimal. Water and phone access have been almost completely cut off. Vanessa’s desperation comes through clearly. Most of all they’re quite hungry, as only the children were able to share a few arepas last night.
Vanessa says they have been treated well but they are scared to death that the police will storm the building and force a violent confrontation.
There is a 15-day-old baby inside the BBVA bank and the mother has been unable to breastfeed.
The only thing we want is to get out of this with our lives, Vanessa says. She doesn’t think they robbers are capable of murdering the hostages but she is near tears thinking that the Venezuelan police will storm the building and cause a firefight.
The host keeps asking Vanessa if there are 4 or 6 hostage-takers but she can’t say, she says. She’s in tears. The host is pushing her too hard to get the most violent of the robbers, Jorge, on the phone. She’s too scared.
“I don’t want them to harm the children. I don’t want them to open fire. I don’t mind going with the robbers, just protect the children.” - Vanessa
“We really need an ambulance, please. They won’t surrender.”
* * *
A local security functionary is on the phone saying they are trying to get the robbers to come out. A typical official statement: meaningless.
Multiple hostages have offered to go with the robbers so they can defuse the situation and save the kids. The local functionary won’t have any of it.
* * *
Ricardo, another of the robbers is on the phone. He is 27 years old and claims to be in charge. He wants an ambulance. “We’re not going to give up our arms, forget about it. We don’t want to go to prison.”
The lives of the babies depend on you, says Ricardo. Send the ambulance and don’t follow us. “I don’t want you to follow us. The only manner for the hostages to not run a risk is to send the ambulance and not follow us.” He is taking a very threatening tone. He says the police are wasting his time, making him wait endlessly for the ambulance.
* * *
A local Colonel Granadillo is replying to Ricardo on the radio. He’s the security chief, an Army Colonel, for the town. They’re dialogging. The colonel says they have 2 options. He’s offering them a helicopter or airplane to leave the area immediately. Or they can leave via ground transportation. They can even take a hostage with them. Ricardo just wants the ambulance.
The colonel says the robbers are human beings and they respect their lives. Ricardo doesn’t trust them. How many hostages do you want to take, the colonel asked. Ricardo says there are 4-5 persons who want to go with them. Ricardo confirmed there are only four robbers. Only 7 fit in the ambulance.
* * *
Ricardo is happy with the negotiation but insists the police not follow them. They didn’t want to commit kidnapping. He really doesn’t want to go to prison. He was in prison for 2 years for robbery. He says it was extremely tough in prison.
Ricardo wants to take 3 women and the bank manager. He says the manager is not negotiable and will definitely go with them. He insists that the police not follow them but he is dreaming. They refuse to turn themselves in. The manager might be a Spanish national, no he is Venezuelan but there is a lady with 2 girls who are Spanish nationals.
* * *
Communication with the robbers has been lost. They have 50 hostages and 4 robbers. They have been in the bank for 24 hours. The robbers claim they aren’t interested in money.
Communication is restored with Ricardo. Someone is videotaping Ricardo and he is upset about it.
* * *
The Colonel is back. He says he tried to speak with the Governor but hasn’t been able to, or so he says. Ricardo says he is calm. The hosts asks what is needed to get the ambulance. The Colonel says this depends entirely on the Governor, only he can authorize it.
Many of the hostages have offered to go as a way to defuse the situation and liberate the great number of the 50 hostages. The hosts are talking now, summing up the situation, they lost the connection again temporarily.
* * *
This situation is unfolding in the town of Altagracia de Orituco in Venezuela.
* * *
It’s madness that the hostage-takers think they can get out of this without going to prison. There are only two roads out of Altagracia. I don’t think they will make it far and I imagine some hostages will die. It would be unfortunate but it seems likely.
* * *
The Colonel is back on the phone and says he is still unable to talk with the Governor, Eduardo Manuitt. He claims they only have four phones and the reception is really bad. A messenger is going to take a communication to the Governor. It has to be a stalling tactic. They must be planning an assault. The Colonel is stalling big time.
He says Pres. Chavez knows about the situation. He’s giving directions now on the two options for a ground exit from Altagracia. He’s also offering a helicopter. The host is asking if they’re going to give them food, medicine, supplies. The Colonel is avoiding the question. He says they want to be careful the food goes to the hostages.
* * *
Everything is pending, waiting on what the Governor will say. We’re now listening to Colonel Granadillo speaking with the Governor, just hearing the one side of the conversation. I find it incredible that this is going on on the radio. If I were the governor I would tell him to hang up.
* * *
Vanessa, one of the hostages, is now asking to speak with the Colonel. Vanessa is speaking with one of the kidnappers. She says everything is calm at the bank. No one is being harmed. The Colonel says the Governor is now consulting with the Interior Minister. More stalling. It’s incredible that the Venezuelans have let this go on for so long.
Vanessa says she has complete faith that the Colonel will help them to get out alive. She may be being manipulated by, or feel pressure from, the kidnappers. She inspires urgency.
The Colonel is back. He urges Vanessa to remain calm.
* * *
The Governor is on the line! Eduardo Manuitt is his name. Vanessa wants to talk with him. She wants them to give the kidnappers the ambulance so they can get out. The Governor is talking over her. He is asking for a demonstration of good faith. He wants 3 little kids to be released. Vanessa says they won’t do it, that agents have been asking for that for awhile now and they won’t do it, absolutely not.
The Governor says they are studying possibilities. He wants to talk so they can reach an agreement. The host asks if the Governor wants to talk with a kidnapper. He says no, to give him 30 minutes to make a decision. Vanessa pleads. The kidnappers sound uneducated but are clearly very clever to use Vanessa as their negotiator.
The Governor signed off and said he would be in touch.
* * *
Vanessa says that one of the kidnappers, Jorge, has kept them calm. The kidnappers were pointing guns at people’s heads and firing off shots to scare the hostages in the beginning of the crisis but after that they calmed down. It was a tough night.
* * *
The Colonel is back on asking if they have eaten. They only had 5 arepas (tortilla-like food) last night, for 58-60 hostages.
* * *
Vanessa is pleading that no one do anything rash so that no one comes out of this hurt. The stakes are really high for the government with this being on the radio. They still don’t have water or electricity, Vanessa says. They cut if off last night and the bathrooms are disgusting. She says they don’t care about the money, everyone just wants to get out alive.
The Colonel is asking how many men are there. Vanessa is now reading the names of the hostages to the Colonel, with the exception of the children. She isn’t allowed to say how many children there are. She reports some military people have come to the door of the bank. This clearly disturbed her. But the Colonel says it is just to dialog.
* * *
The Colonel says he has visited Colombia quite a lot and is grateful for Caracol Radio’s intervention. Caracol’s ratings must be going through the roof.
* * *
A bank employee being held is 7 months pregnant. They finished the list of hostages. 46 adults and 12-14 kids. The 15-day old baby has been breastfeeding but the mother does not have enough to eat so the qualify of the milk is not good; the baby has been crying and rejecting it.
* * *
The robbers have pistols and grenades but they aren’t putting them down for even a second.
* * *
The Colonel is pressing Vanessa for details on the robber’s arms but she won’t risk it. She’s pleading for an immediate response on the ambulance.
* * *
The Governor is on the phone again! It’s 10:40AM EST. He says they are working as hard as possible. Vanessa says she knows he is working as hard as possible and thanks him but is asking for conditions or some kind of progress. They need another 20 minutes.
The hosts are amazed at how calm all parties are remaining. Communication has been temporarily lost with all parties.
* * *
The Colonel is back. It’s 11:15AM in Venezuela.
* * *
Pirulo, another bank robber, is on the line with the Colonel. This is the last remaining kidnapper who hasn’t been on the phone yet.
The kidnappers want an ambulance to pull up to the back of the bank and take them out with 4 hostages. We’ve been waiting on the Governor to make a decision on this for a long time now.
The kidnappers want to take 3 women, including Vanessa, and the bank manager with them. Presumably they would liberate the remaining 54-56 hostages.
* * *
“Vanessa has been the hero,” the Caracol Radio host is saying. Now Vanessa’s mother is on the phone, but she can’t hear the radio host.
The government is happy to give them the money they are asking for and the ambulance but they can not allow them to take hostages with them, the Secretary of State Sambrano is saying. They’re talking about how many years the kidnappers will have to serve: 25 years. This discussion is not going to help get the kidnappers out.
The phone connection with Sambrano is very bad. He says the kidnappers are using the families of the hostages to put pressure on the government to accede to their demands.
* * *
AP and The Guardian have updated their coverage.
* * *
The hosts want Sambrano to rule out a military solution. Sambrano says the international presence in this conflict via the media means that no one has an order to execute a military assault.
* * *
One of the hostages is Colombian, Carolina Vanegas. They’re trying to get her on the phone. No luck.
* * *
Colonel Granadillo is back. He says the Governor is still consulting with his advisors to make a decision. The Colonel says they will negotiate, and are not planning an assault.
* * *
Vanessa’s mother, Jardin, is back on. The host is congratulating her on Vanessa’s leadership. “That’s my daughter” she says. Vanessa is 25 years old. She’s worked in the bank for almost a year now. Jardin is in a hotel across the street from the BBVA bank where this crisis is unfolding. She says there are a good amount of Venezuelan armed forces in the area, a lot of them right in front of the bank.
* * *
The Colonel is on again, pleading that everyone remain calm, that there will be a solution very soon.
Correction, right now the kidnappers are facing 3 years in jail, but if they steal or murder it could easily get a lot worse.
* * *
Two of the four kidnappers are taking a hard-line. One wanted to turn himself in but the others wouldn’t let him.
* * *
Jorge, one of the kidnappers, is back on. “How are the hostages?” the host asked. “We’re waiting for a priest to visit us.” Geez that is a bad sign.
It’s lunchtime in Venezuela, what about the food, the host is asking. The kidnappers must be running on pure adrenalin.
They’re saying an agreement is close. The hosts are suggesting the priest take the 15 day old baby out with him. Jorge says no, “it’s difficult, leave me alone.” The hosts are really pushing him hard to let the baby and the pregnant woman go. Jorge says they’re waiting for the priest and they’ll see.
* * *
The government is clearly playing a waiting game.
* * *
The Colonel is on with Jorge. Jorge wants the priest now. That’s not a good sign! Everyone keeps saying they are calm but the tension is growing. The kidnappers are impatient and the hostages are desperate.
They still do not have water. The host is asking the Colonel to turn on the water. The Colonel is stalling. I would be doing the same thing. If you give them water you are giving them strength.
The host is talking about possible prison sentences again. Again, I don’t think that is a good tactic. They want to get away scot-free.
Jorge just accepted the entry of a doctor into the bank to treat the hostages.
* * *
The Governor is on the line. There is confusion. I hear yelling in the bank. The connection with the bank has been lost. The Governor says they will provide the ambulance but first they need a show of good faith. They need to release the children and the pregnant lady. This is completely reasonable, more than reasonable.
* * *
Reuters and Bloomberg now have coverage.
* * *
The Governor claims they are having water service problems in the entire city. Sounds like BS to me but they are doing the right thing.
* * *
The host claims Jorge agreed to liberate the pregnant woman but I am not so sure.
* * *
Caracol is running audio of Vanessa pleading to promote the story. They’re on the border of acceptability.
* * *
Colonel Granadilo is back on. He says the Governor is open to negotiating but can’t allow any violence.
* * *
Reuters: “We are in real danger. They can kill us. Please help,” read a placard placed at one of the branch’s windows.
* * *
Reuters: “They appear to be new at this,” Manuel Granadillo, a regional security official, told Union Radio. “They could do something crazy and then anything could happen.”
* * *
Jorge, one of the kidnappers, is back on. But the connection was lost. The Colonel says the region is surrounded by mountains so cellular communication is very unreliable. It’s not easy to get in and out of the zone by ground transportation
* * *
The Guardian: Crime is a big political issue in Venezuela, which is believed to have one of the worst gun-related death rates in the world; the police stopped issuing crime statistics in 2003. Opinion polls show crime is Venezuelans’ biggest concern.
* * *
They’re going to release the 15 day old baby and her mother and the pregnant woman. It’s confirmed.
* * *
Colonel Granadillo is doing an amazing job. He is projecting a completely unaggressive attitude. There is a disturbance inside the bank. The kidnapper’s cellular phone died again.
* * *
The kidnappers are 24-27 year old workers, plumbers and similar, who expected to improve their economic situation by robbing the bank. Very sad.
* * *
Additional Reuters coverage: Robbers refuse to give up hostages in Venezuela siege
* * *
A Mr. Ronaldo Chirios, a relative of one of the hostages is on the phone. Water service has been restored and the hostages have some food, thanks to the Venezuelan authorities. There is a negotiation going on behind the scenes he confirmed. Ronaldo says the kidnappers were doing drugs last night.
* * *
The siege has been on for 25 hours now.
* * *
The governor has definitively rejected the ambulance request.
* * *
AFP: “We do not want any loot at this point. The only thing we want is to save our lives,” the man said, insisting: “if we let the kids go, they will kill us.” He said the gunmen would detonate their grenades if police storm the bank.
* * *
* * *
A hostage, Zoraida Castillo (or Machado), has been liberated according to Caracol Radio. This may be the pregnant woman. Caracol is being credited for their insistence to the kidnappers on releasing a hostage.
* * *
AP: As for the gunmen, Manuitt told state television: “We think they don’t have much experience because of the sort of weapons they carry and by their behavior.” He said authorities are working to identify them from images taken and believe they are connected to a criminal gang in the area.
* * *
Noticias 24: Guárico state Governor Manuitt himself is present at the scene.
* * *
Noticias 24: Venezuelan Minister of Interior Rodríguez Chacín says that the kidnappers are consuming alcohol and drugs. This looks really bad.
* * *
El Nacional of Venezuela’s coverage.
* * *
Radio Caracol’s special coverage appears to have ceased. The authorities are wisely keeping the talks private now. I’ll keep checking my sources and will report anything else I find.
* * *
The liberated woman is not pregnant. These guys are really playing for keeps. Correction: it was the pregnant woman.
* * *
Photo of kidnapper and hostage at the bank window
* * *
National Post: “If they kill us, we are going to kill a lot of people. It’s better that they stay calm,” a 26-year-old hostage-taker calling himself Jorge, said in a matter-of-fact tone from inside the bank about the hundreds of police deployed across the street.
* * *
El Nacional reports an explosion and broken glass at the bank but apparently no injuries. Maybe these guys are so drunk and high they accidentally detonated their grenade. Noticias24 says that the kidnappers opened fire when some relatives of hostages got too close to the bank. I’m wondering why the Venezuelans didn’t take any action when they heard the shots.
* * *
Noticias24 now says that the kidnappers may be out of the bank at any moment, that their demand for an ambulance is going to be met.
* * *
* * *
Interior Minister Rodríguez Chacín says he won’t offer a means of getaway for the BBVA delinquents.
* * *
El Universal: Robbers allowed a priest and a doctor to enter the bank.
* * *
Noticias24 reports that from 2:10PM (presumably 1:40PM EST) there is a media blackout at the location.
* * *
Amazingly, Noticias24 reports that the kidnappers’ demands are being granted. The Governor is going to let them take 5 hostages out with them. This is madness. At least they will have saved the great majority.
* * *
RCN TV in Colombia shows the ambulance at the door of the bank. There are hostages on the second floor peeking out from the balcony. The ambulance doors are open.
* * *
RCN still shows the ambulance at the door of the BBVA bank. No activity visible.
* * *
RCN via Globovision showing now that the hostages and kidnappers have entered the ambulance. Supposedly no one is going to follow them. Right.
* * *
At 2:15PM EST the ambulance left apparently with 5 hostages who volunteered. At which point at least one hundred civilians mobbed the bank. I can only imagine that the most idiotic of the mob arrived first and trampled some of the hostages in their desperation to find their relatives.
I’d like to know where the Venezuelan police are. Why didn’t they cordon off the area? Why did they allow all of those people to mob the scene? If the kidnappers are smart they didn’t get into the ambulance and waited for the ensuing chaos at which point they might very well be able to slink off undetected.
I’d also like to know how the civilian relatives of the hostages were allowed to get so close to the bank in the first place, and why the police didn’t respond when the kidnappers opened fire.
* * *
RCN TV in Colombia just announced that the crisis is over. What? How about the 5 hostages in the ambulance? the 4 robbers/kidnappers? This is not over until these last hostages are recovered and the assailants brought to justice.
* * *
Photos of the liberated hostages
* * *
El Nacional reports that the hostages will be left in a to-be-determined place and the police will let the ambulance circulate freely. I really hope the police are not going to let these guys get away.
El Nacional still thinks there were only 29 hostages, which is contradicted by Vanessa, one of the hostages. Weird.
* * *
Video from Radio Mundial of Venezuela via Noticias 24 of the kidnappers making their escape.
* * *
I find it interesting that in 2008 this unfolded on the radio of all media. Cellular phones allowed the hostages to speak with their families - that is something new. While reportedly in Venezuela coverage was minimal. This all seems backwards. Why wasn’t Venezuelan media in the thick of this? Why in 2008 was a Venezuelan newspaper or other media outlet not providing constant updates on the situation? If they were, by all means correct me in the comments.
* * *
Outside of Venezuela no stories have come out yet from the mainstream print media about the liberation of the majority of the hostages, as far as I can find.
* * *
USA Today: Today’s photo: Gunman stands behind hostage at Venezuelan bank
* * *
That’s about it for now. I will update as more news comes in. Thanks!
* * *
Some new pictures of the scene
* * *
Globovision reports on the kidnappers’ getaway. First mainstream coverage of that I found in print. According to Globovision the leader of the kidnappers has been identified and some of his relatives showed up at the bank, adding pressure for an agreement to be reached.
* * *
Lots of pictures and a blow-by-blow of what happened from Roman Padron and Tirso Cario of ORITUCO.COM who were actually at the scene.
* * *
Updated coverage from The Guardian and AP.
* * *
AP: “Five hostages are going with them. Let’s see if they abandon them on the way,” top police official Vicente Alamo told The Associated Press. Gee that is a bit cavalier!
* * *
Noticias24: The criticism is starting. Yeah, what are they thinking. At the very least let’s hope they gave them a near-empty tank of gasoline. These last five hostages put themselves in harm’s way voluntarily, in order to save the others. These are valiant people who require all the protection the Venezuelan police and armed forces can afford them. Don’t abandon them.
* * *
New Reuters coverage: Security forces were tracking the vehicle from afar so that they could pick up the hostages when they are released, a National Guard official told reporters.
* * *
AFP updates its coverage.
* * *
Given how successful this attack appears to be so far, I wonder how many copycats we will get?
* * *
It appears that the Vanessa we heard on Caracol Radio this morning is one of the hostages still with the kidnappers.
* * *
AP reports 8 minutes ago: Venezuela Gunmen Captured After Standoff. Thank goodness it’s over.
* * *
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5 Comments
This is awesome! You can get this info while here in my own country we have an information blackout.
I will forward the news from my site to yours.
AR
Thanks. Caracol Radio did a great job this morning.
¡Vaya man!
Para estar tan lejos has hecho una buena selección de artículos.
Cordial saludo and Thanks for the link!
Gracias.
Pero tampoco estoy tan lejos - estoy en Medellin, CO.
Gracias por tu excelente colaboración en mi blog! Encantada de recibirte.
Estaremos viendonos!
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