 A child is kidnapped every day in Colombia |
Thousands of Colombians have taken to the streets of their capital, Bogota, to protest against the kidnapping of children.
Colombia is the kidnap capital of the world, with one abduction registered every four hours, and children are becoming the favourite target in this grisly human trade.
Bearing banners reading "children are sacred, leave them in peace", thousands of people protested against a rising trend in kidnapping young children.
Most kidnappings are conducted by Marxist guerrillas, who use the ransoms to fund their 39-year war with the state.
Paranoid parents
While overall kidnapping figures have gone down slightly, the kidnapping of children has risen significantly to one every day.
The reason is that kidnappers have found that parents will not haggle over ransoms or delay payment when it is their children's wellbeing that is at stake.
Parents are now becoming increasingly paranoid about their children's security, keeping them very close at hand when going shopping and driving them to school rather than using school buses.
 Rebels use ransom money to fund their fight |
This protest was sparked by the recent kidnapping of a three-year-old boy, Vytis Karanauskas.
His parents appeared on national television after he was taken from his school bus.
His father addressed a message to his son, telling him to play with his kidnappers so that time passed quickly until they could secure his release.
One-Minute World News 
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