Nationals Catcher Wilson Ramos Kidnapped in Venezuela

Police in Venezuela have a high profile kidnapping case on their hands. The victim is Wilson Ramos. He’s a promising 24-year-old catcher for Major League Baseball’s Washington Nationals.

Ramos is from Venezuela, and had returned home to play winter ball with a Venezuelan pro-team. But last night he was abducted.

Juan Paullier is the correspondent for BBC Mundo in Caracas, tells us the details.

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Marco Werman: I am Marco Werman. This is The World. Police in Venezuela have a high profile kidnapping case on their hands. The victim is Wilson Ramos. He’s a promising 24-year-old catcher for Major League Baseball’s Washington Nationals. Ramos is from Venezuela, and had returned home to play winter ball with a Venezuelan pro-team. But last night he was abducted. Juan Paullier is the correspondent for BBC Mundo in Caracas and he’s been following the case. Juan, first of all, tell us what we know happened.

Juan Paullier: Well, what we know, so far, is that Ramos was abducted on Wednesday at about 7 p.m. in his family home in the city of Valencia. This is about 100 miles west of the capital Caracas. Witnesses say that 4 men drove him away in an SUV and that vehicle was found on Thursday morning. Venezuelan intelligence police is now saying that they can confirm that Ramos is still alive. This could be an indication that some negotiations may be underway.

Werman: How do the police know he’s still alive?

Paullier: The police haven’t revealed that information. In a press conference, they just said that they know that he’s still alive but they didn’t give any further information about this.

Werman: Do they have any better sense of who abducted him?

Paullier: No. I mean, kidnappings in general are quite common in Venezuela. Even though it seems to be the first kidnapping of a major league baseball player in Venezuela and this is the first time we are talking about a high profile case, in the past, there are families of relatives of some sport personalities who have been targeted in order to get a good ransom, right?

Werman: Yeah. I understand the police in Venezuela are not always perceived as very efficient in cracking down on kidnappings like these. But, as you say, this is the first time a major league baseball player has been abducted in Venezuela. Is there a lot of public pressure on the authorities to find him right now?

Paullier: Obviously, this case is having a huge impact, not only in Venezuela but also abroad, because Ramos plays in major league baseball in the United States. Baseball is, by far, the most popular sport here in Venezuela, so now everybody is talking about this case. The authorities, we have to say, usually they are unwilling to comment on the security situation in the country, but now they have all the pressure on them.

Werman: How has the Venezuelan Baseball League reacted?

Paullier: There have been some demands especially on social networks in order to suspend the tournament that began a month ago, but the President of the Venezuelan Baseball League ruled out this possibility saying that suspending the tournament, suspending the games, won’t be the solution. Without specifying it, he said that they are going to provide additional security measures for the players and for the tournament in general.

Werman: For 2009, police in Venezuela reported more than 600 kidnappings over a 12-month period. Has the trend grown and what’s at the root of the problem?

Paullier: Well, in general, Venezuela has one of the worst security situations in Latin America. The murder rate is one of the highest in the world, and kidnappings have also soared in the last years. Most kidnappings are for financial motives, I mean, gangs that are demanding large ransoms. They are mainly focusing on local businessmen and landowners and, obviously, popular sports characters could be the target of these abductions.

Werman: I’m just wondering, whenever Wilson Ramos’ team plays next, whether in Venezuela there is ever any special ritual at a game when a player like this is in trouble.

Paullier: There’s going to be a lot of pressure not to play that game until Ramos is found alive.

Werman: Oh, really?

Paullier: Well, as I said, this is the most popular sport here, by far, and I can’t see that game happening with this ongoing situation, I mean, if they can’t find Ramos in the following days.

Werman: Juan Paullier with BBC Mundo in Caracas, thank you very much.

Paullier: Thank you very much.

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