But the flight of Santos was different. It wasn't just that he was a scion of the politically powerful family that owns El Tiempo. Santos won the admiration of many in Colombia for what he did after he was freed. I just received a ton of mail about that from people who wrote about what kidnapping does to families. The Free Country Foundation helps people cope with a kidnapping in their family through psychological counseling and practical advice on things such as the dos and don'ts of negotiating.
Kidnapping is big business in Colombia.
According to the foundation, there were 3,000 kidnappings in the last 12 months alone. Santos aimed his organization right at the heart of that business. First, his foundation gathered 1 million signatures on petitions in a successful campaign to strengthen the kidnapping laws. In 1996, Santos began leading mass demonstrations against kidnapping and violence from both the political right and left. At the newspaper, Santos did not handle any stories about his foundation or its activities.