Colombian mayor's wife kidnapped, president orders security forces deployment

President Abelardo De La Espriella ordered a "total deployment" of Colombian security forces after the wife of the mayor of Uribia in the La Guajira department was kidnapped early Wednesday.

Mayor Jaime Luis Buitrago Garcia said his wife, Nancy Gomez, a social manager for the municipality and mother of his children, was abducted.

"As mayor, but also as a father, I am going through a difficult moment," he wrote on US social media platform X.

Buitrago Garcia asked De La Espriella to support the military, police and the defense and transport ministries, and urged the governor to coordinate institutional efforts, activate search protocols and reinforce security on roads and border corridors to prevent her possible transfer out of the country.

He urged residents to stay alert and share any information that could help locate her.

"Our priority is to protect her life and integrity and achieve her swift return home," he said.

De La Espriella said the kidnapping took place at 6.10 am local time (1100GMT) and that he ordered the full deployment of the public force and a "padlock plan" to stop the abductors from taking the victim into Venezuela.

"Initial information points to the participation of the ELN (the National Liberation Army), a situation we are verifying," he said.

De La Espriella said he ordered the use of "all the capabilities of the state" to locate Gomez, rescue her safe and sound, and bring those responsible to justice, expressing solidarity with the mayor and his family.