Incident Date:
March 10, 1987
March 10, 1987 - March 18, 1988
Incident Successful: Yes
Location: Arauca Colombia
Perpetrators: National Liberation Army (ELN)
Event Type: Hostage Taking (Kidnapping)
Weapon Type(s): Firearms (Automatic Weapon (incl. semiauto))
Organization Type: Leftist,
Suicide Attack: No
Hoax: No
Violent Extremism:
Doubt Terror: No
Target Information
1- Business(Gas/oil)
Canadian Target: Yes
Canadian Victim: No
Canadian Perpetrator: No
By foreigners against foreign target(s) in Canada:
Victims: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries
Perpetrators: 4 involved, 0 fatalities, 0 injuries
Description: "03/10/1987: Four National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas carrying submachine guns and pistols kidnapped Richard Paulson, 38, a Canadian production supervisor of the Occidental Petroleum Company in Arauca, 460 kilometers northeast of Bogota. Paulson was riding in a station wagon with Amanda Uribe, another Occidental official. Uribe was left hours later in Cano Rosario, on the city's outskirts. Paulson was released a year later on 03/18/1988. The ELN had initially asked for a $20 million ransom for Paulson and later reduced the amount to $6 million. It has not been reported whether a ransom was paid."
References: 1) GTD 1970-2012 data file
2) "Mickolus, Edward F., Todd Sandler and Jean M. Murdock. (1989) International Terrorism in the 1980s: A Chronology of Events, Volume II 1984-1987. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press. p. 560-561."
3) RAND
Attached Files: