BOGOTA, Colombia — A right-wing militia in Colombia released a prominent Venezuelan businessman held hostage for two years, ending a case that had riveted Venezuelan society.
Richard Boulton, whose family owns Venezuela's Avensa airline, was turned over to the International Red Cross on Monday in Colombia's southern Meta state and was taken to Bogota, where family members waited for him. Red Cross officials would not discuss the details of his release or if a ransom was paid.
Boulton, 35, appeared in good health and in clean clothes as he was mobbed by reporters in an airport in Villavicencio, southeast of Bogota. "I'm very happy that it's all over," he said.
He was kidnapped on July 15, 2000, at a family ranch in central Venezuela by 12 men in military uniform and using assault weapons. It was not known how he was taken to Colombia, but outlaw groups often cross the porous frontier.
The brazen crime and the prominent target riveted Venezuelan society and a vigil of thanks for Boulton's release was held in Caracas on Monday night.
Colombia's guerrillas were initially suspected in the abduction, but they denied involvement.
Boulton's brother, Alberto, told Venezuela's Globovision television that he had personally paid a ransom on Feb. 5 to a Venezuelan colonel but didn't specify the amount. He said the family lost faith as time passed.=
Carlos Castano, one of the founders of the loosely affiliated paramilitary groups that freed Boulton, sent a letter to Colombian President Andres Pastrana on Monday claiming the Venezuelan military and active and retired members of the Colombian police were involved in the initial kidnapping.
Castano charged in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, that a paramilitary leader known as "El Flaco" or "Skinny" is a retired Colombian police officer who "executed the kidnapping with his active and retired companions and with the support of members of the armed forces of Venezuela."
Last week, Castano said that Boulton was being held by a rogue paramilitary unit. Castano resigned his post as political leader of the paramilitary organization over the weekend, saying he was upset by the Boulton kidnapping, among other things. The paramilitary militias were formed to fight Colombia's leftist guerrillas.
Colombia's guerrillas were initially suspected in the abduction, but they denied involvement.
Boulton's brother, Alberto, told Venezuela's Globovision television that he had personally paid a ransom on Feb. 5 to a Venezuelan colonel but didn't specify the amount. He said the family lost faith as time passed.
Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said his captors later presented additional demands.
"They were moving him from one place to another, which made things difficult. He was passed from group to group on various occasions, which made contact difficult," said Cabello, speaking in Caracas.
Colombia has the highest kidnapping rate in the world, with more than 3,000 people taken hostage last year. Most of the kidnappings are blamed on leftist rebels.