Kidnappers' hideouts penetrated by DJs and relatives' requests

The late-night show on Memories Radio churns out a stream of Mexican cowboy music and romantic ballads interspersed with calls from listeners all over Colombia.

It sounds like any other radio phone-in, until you realise that all the songs and messages are dedicated to victims of the country's multi-million dollar kidnapping industry.

"It happened by accident. The programme was just meant to be a bit of fun, but gradually it was taken over by relatives of the kidnap victims," the presenter, Libardo Bedoya, explained.

The show has become a lifeline for hundreds of families, and every night the station's switchboard is jammed by callers.

"I get blisters dialling the number, but it's such a relief to know he can hear me when I get through," said Adela Afanador, whose son Edgar was snatched by leftwing guerrillas in August 1998.

Heartbreak Hour, and the proliferation of similar radio programmes, reflects the fact that kidnapping has become a part of everyday life in the strife-torn South American country.

"Kidnapping has become normal. In the face of so much injustice, people become insensitive. They prefer not to think about it," said Juan Mesa of Pais Libre, an organisation which campaigns against abduction and extortion.

Increasing unemployment and a severe economic crisis have contributed to the boom in kidnapping, but its roots lie in the violence generated by nearlym 40 years of civil war.

Last year about eight people were kidnapped in Colombia every day, mostly by rebel factions who depend on extortion to fund their campaigns.

Police figures show that more than 1,000 people, including 10 foreigners, have been kidnapped so far this year.

But where once the rebels picked on the wealthy and foreign businessmen, they now cast their nets wider.

Increasingly they abduct members of the urban middle class, snatching their victims either from city streets or from holiday traffic at roadblocks on country roads.

Housewives, schoolchildren and shopkeepers have all been taken hostage, said Guillermo Restrepo, head of anti-kidnapping operations at the ministry of justice. "People think kidnapping is something that only happens to the rich, but the reality is that any Colombian could be kidnapped."

Even the poorest are at risk: earlier this year a five-year-old girl was abducted from a Bogota slum. She was ransomed for £150, but most kidnappers demand larger amounts: the average is £25,000.

Although both the main leftwing rebel groups are involved in peace talks, the guerrillas and their rightwing paramilitary enemies are all stepping up kidnappings in preparation for more violence, Mr Mesa said.

"This is a carefully planned strategy. They're preparing to escalate and sustain themselves for a long-term war."

The largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), recently announced that it would levy a "peace tax" on every Colom bian with more than $1m worth of assets, in response to a US proposal to send more than £1bn in mostly military aid to the government.

The announcement ended with a chilling threat: "Those who ignore this request will be retained. Their liberation will depend on payment."

If the rebels do launch a new kidnapping campaign, observers say, the authorities will be powerless to stop them. On holiday weekends the police annouce which routes to follow to avoid the guerrilla checkpoints, but the security forces are unable to control remote areas.

At Memories Radio, Libardo Bedoya introduces another disc. Sad Memories is a sentimental Mexican ranchero song, but to the listeners to Heartbreak Hour its words have a special resonance.

Time goes by, but I can never
forget you
Wherever you are, I hope
you're listening to this song And when you hear these
words I hope you remember me as I
remember you.