It's too bad that Proof of Life ignored this second, more intriguing scenario, but it's also understandable, given the film's overdetermined vilification of the kidnappers. Peter's fellow employees are portrayed negatively. Like absentee landlords, the U.S.-based oil execs care nothing for the local population and next to nothing for their own employees. They consume resources at alarming rates. They pacify local people with humanitarian pet projects.
Profit is, as always, the bottom line.
A group of Tecalan protestors gathers at a ribbon cutting ceremony of Octanol's new local headquarters. This sudden interjection is startling, set against a backdrop of relative fluff. It's as if Proof of Life is gesturing towards a criticism of modern day U.S. imperialism but can't quite articulate it. And so Proof of Life takes the easy route, painting this serious issue with broad brush strokes and not addressing the cultural subjugation and erasure that are part of the imperialist agenda. And perhaps the reason for this oversight is because the film so eagerly participates in that erasure.