The head of the Scientific, Penal, and Criminology Investigation Agency (Cicpc) Marcos Chávez recently said that the number of kidnappings reported to the body so far this year was 308, the number went up to 309 on Tuesday, when another person was kidnapped in southwestern Táchira state.

Based on the figures, the number kidnappings reported in Colombia exceeds that in Venezuela by only 84 people.

Sources said that the Colombian Ministry of Defense so far this year has recorded 393 kidnappings, the lowest over the last few years. Colombia's population is larger than Venezuela's, and therefore the index of kidnappings in Venezuela is higher than in Colombia.

In 2007, in Venezuela, the number of persons kidnapped was 12 in one million; while in Colombia, it was nine in one million people.

"We are asking the people affected to report the cases. This is the only way we have to solve the problem," Marcos Chávez said.