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Colombian Senator Aída Quilcué Found Safe After Brief Abduction in Cauca

An investigation now seeks to identify the captors, with officials promising stronger security measures.

Overview

  • Indigenous guard members located Quilcué and two escorts alive after several hours of detention, according to the defense minister.
  • Her vehicle was intercepted around 1:30 p.m. local time in the páramo de Totoró on the Inzá–Totoró route, and later found abandoned by security forces.
  • Quilcué said the men who seized them were heavily armed and offered no identification before taking them to an unknown location.
  • Authorities and the Guardia Indígena coordinated the search, and investigators have not yet attributed responsibility to any armed group.
  • The incident comes in a conflict zone where FARC dissidents and others operate, days after the ELN claimed an attack that killed two escorts of Senator Jairo Castellanos; Quilcué has reported repeated threats in the past.