''News of a Kidnapping'' (original Spanish title: ''Noticia de un secuestro'') is a non-fiction book by

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian writer and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th centur ...

. It was first published in Spanish in 1996, with an English translation released in 1997.

The book recounts the kidnapping, imprisonment, and eventual release of a handful of prominent figures in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

in the early 1990s by the

Medellín Cartel The Medellín Cartel () was a powerful and highly organized Colombian drug cartel and terrorist organization originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia, that was founded and led by Pablo Escobar. It is often considered to be the first major ...

, a

drug cartel A drug cartel is a criminal organization composed of independent drug lords who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the illegal drug trade. Drug cartels form with the purpose of controlling the supply of the i ...

founded and operated by

Pablo Escobar Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (; ; 1 December 19492 December 1993) was a Colombian drug lord, narcoterrorist, and politician who was the founder and leader of the Medellín Cartel. Dubbed the "King of Cocaine", Escobar was one of the wealthie ...

. The book begins with an account of the abductions of

Maruja Pachón Maruja is a Filipino comic book character created by Mars Ravelo. It is about an immortal love story about two people whose love for each other transcended a century. Written by Mars Ravelo and illustrated by Rico Rival, it was a story that ...

and Beatriz Villamizar de Guerrero the evening of 7 November 1990.Maruja Pachon, former Minister of Education
Semana.com, 23 May 2009, accessed October 2012 People presume that Maruja was kidnapped because her sister is

Gloria Pachón Gloria Pachón de Galán (born June 22, 1935) is a Colombian politician and journalist. Between 1993 and 1995 she was the ambassador of Colombia in France during the government of César Gaviria and member of the executive board of UNESCO. Biog ...

, widow of the journalist and New Liberalism founder

Luis Carlos Galán Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiento (29 September 1943 – 18 August 1989) was a Colombian liberal politician and journalist who ran for the Presidency of Colombia on two occasions, the first time for the political movement New Liberalism that he f ...

. Beatriz is Maruja's sister-in-law and her personal assistant. The book then examines the first in a series of related kidnappings. On 30 August 1990,

Diana Turbay Diana Consuelo Turbay Quintero (March 9, 1950 – January 25, 1991) was a Colombian journalist kidnapped by the Medellín Cartel and killed during a botched rescue attempt. Her story has been portrayed in a non-fiction book by Gabriel García ...

, director of the TV news program '' Criptón'' and magazine '' Hoy x Hoy'', was abducted along with four members of her news team. They include editor Azucena Liévano, writer Juan Vitta, and camera operators

Richard Becerra Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and i ...

and

Orlando Acevedo Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people with ...

. German journalist

Hero Buss A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such things for the sake of ...

was also with them when they were taken. Turbay was the daughter of former Colombian president and Liberal Party leader Julio César Turbay. She died, likely by

friendly fire In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy or hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while ...

, on 25 January 1991 in a police rescue raid on the compound where she was being held. The kidnappings on 18 September 1990 of Marina Montoya and

Francisco Santos Calderón Francisco Santos Calderón (born 14 August 1961), also known as Pacho Santos, is a Colombian politician and journalist. Santos was elected as Álvaro Uribe's running mate and became Vice President in 2002. Santos was re-elected in 2006 for a se ...

, editor in chief of '' El Tiempo'' newspaper, are also recounted.

Mir Hossein Moussavi

"If you want to understand my situation, read Gabriel Garcia Marquez's News of a ''Kidnapping''",

Iranian opposition The Iranian opposition consists of groups and individuals in Iran who oppose the government of the Islamic Republic since its foundation in 1979. These groups are ideologically diverse, ranging from monarchists to supporters of parliamentary dem ...

leader Mir Hossein Moussavi was quoted as having said in a meeting with his daughters in September 2011. Musavi, together with his wife,

Zahra Rahnavard Zahra Rahnavard (; born Zohreh Kazemi; 19 August 1945) is an Iranian academic, artist and politician. Rahnavard is a university professor, artist, and intellectual who was under house arrest from February 2011 to May 2018. In 2009, Foreign Poli ...

, has been under house arrest since February 2011. After a week, some Persian book reference websites reported that ''News of a Kidnapping'' was among the best-selling "rare books" in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

TV adaptation

On 22 August 2022, a six-episode miniseries based on the book was released on

Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

. A Colombian-Chilean co-production, it is directed by Julio Jorquera Arriagada and

Andrés Wood Andrés Wood Montt (born 14 September 1965) is a Chilean film director, producer and writer. Some of his most popular films include '' Machuca'', '' Violeta se fue a los cielos'', and ''Historias de Futbol''. He created his own production compa ...

, and stars

Cristina Umaña Cristina Umaña (born December 24, 1974) is a Colombian actress. She studied drama from 1993 to 1995 in the Centro de Educación Artística of Televisa. In Colombia she had the leading role of telenovelas, ''Yo amo a Paquita Gallego'' and '' La ...

Juan Pablo Raba Juan Pablo Raba Vidal (born 14 January 1977) is a Colombian film, TV and telenovela actor, best known internationally for his role as Gustavo Gaviria in the 2015 Netflix series ''Narcos''. Early life Raba was born in Bogotá, Colombia where ...

Alberto Villamizar Alberto is the Romance version of the Latinized form (''Albertus'') of Germanic ''Albert''. It is used in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. The diminutive forms are ''Albertito'' in Spain or ''Albertico'' in some parts of Latin America, Albertin ...

and

Majida Issa Majida Margarita Issa Bellotto (born June 27, 1981) is a Colombian actress, best known for her role as List of Sin senos sí hay paraíso characters#, Yésica Beltrán "La Diabla") in Telemundo's telenovela ''Sin senos sí hay paraíso'' (2016� ...

as Diana Turbay. The series won four awards at the

10th Platino Awards The 10th Platino Awards, presented by the Entidad de Gestión de Derechos de los Productores Audiovisuales (EGEDA) and the Federación Iberoamericana de Productores Cinematográficos y Audiovisuales (FIPCA), took place on 22 April 2023 at IFEMA P ...

, including Best Ibero-American Miniseries or TV series.

References

External links

News of a Kidnapping on e-notes.com
{{Gabriel García Márquez 1996 non-fiction books 1990 in Colombia Books about Colombia Colombian non-fiction books Non-fiction books about Colombian drug cartels Non-fiction books by Gabriel García Márquez Spanish-language non-fiction books

Contents

Mir Hossein Moussavi

TV adaptation

References

External links